Armenia misses out on invite

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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"We have not been informed of such an initiative," Nalbandian told a news conference, reported Web site PanArmenian.net yesterday.

Last week, the Azerbaijani Press Agency quoted Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kılıç as saying, "a trilateral meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia is expected to take place in Turkey." Some Turkish media circulated reports about President Abdullah Gül preparing to take another bold step to contribute to regional peace in the Caucasus by hosting a trilateral summit with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

However, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey had not planned trilateral talks between the leaders. "Of course, we would be pleased by visits from the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. But Turkey has not planned a meeting of this kind," said a foreign ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said three-way talks occurred on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York and all sides were in agreement to press ahead with talks.