Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, in order to mark "Europe Day," gave a lunch yesterday in Ankara to which the Ambassadors from EU countries in Turkey were invited. At the lunch, Gul noted that the upcoming European Council summit in Warsaw will witness a meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Robert Kocharian.

Answering a question in regards to Turkish-Armenian relations from Polish Ambassador Grzegorz Michalski, Gul made these comments on the Armenian claims of genocide: "We are aware that the Armenian question is poisoning Turkish-EU relations." This was interpreted as being a message to the Polish Parliament, which recently passed a decision to recognize the Armenian claims.
 
Gul continued his comments: "We are all for having good relations with our neighbors. Messages are being sent that we should open our borders with Armenia. But why should we do that before seeing a response from them? The Armenian diaspora in particular does not want our two countries to develop relations. Their approach is absolutely incorrect. Despite everything though, we are trying to look at it all positively. Erdogan and Kocharian shook hands today (yesterday) in Moscow. We expect them to meet in Warsaw."
 
When Dutch Ambassador Sjoerd Gosses brought up the subject of the recent extremist nationalist incidents in Trabzon, and how they worry EU members watching from afar, Gul replied that "some things are exaggerated," referring to press reaction to the events.