Turkey, Armenia say they’re ready to talk

Turkey and Armenia have agreed on a road map for normalizing relations and reaching reconciliation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, but it wasn’t immediately clear how they would tackle their bitter dispute over Ottoman-era killings of ethnic Armenians.

Turkish officials would not discuss that issue, and the ministry statement said only that the two countries had worked out a framework for reaching a solution that would satisfy both sides. There was no immediate comment from Armenia’s government.

The Armenian genocide of 1915-18 claimed the lives of about 1.2 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, which became the modern republic of Turkey.

The Turkish government disputes that a genocide took place, saying that the death toll was inflated and that Armenians died in civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

The announcement came just weeks after President Obama, during a visit to Turkey, called on his hosts to come to terms with the past, resolve the dispute with its neighbor Armenia and reopen the border. The European Union also has put pressure on Turkey, which is seeking to join the bloc.

The accord was announced hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised what she described as bold reconciliation efforts between Turkey and Armenia.

In its statement, the Foreign Ministry said the two nations “have recorded solid progress and reached mutual understanding to normalize ties in a way to satisfy both sides, agreeing on a comprehensive framework. Within this framework, a road map has been determined.”

Turkey wants its talks with Armenia to advance in parallel with negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan over disputed territory controlled by Armenia.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia during that nation’s conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Turkey backs Azerbaijan’s claim to the region, which has a high number of ethnic Armenian residents but lies within Azerbaijan’s borders.