ANKARA - Micheline Calmy-Rey, chief of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, will visit Turkey between March 29th and 31st upon the invitation of Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, sources said on Monday.
Calmy-Rey is expected to visit capital Ankara, commercial hub of Istanbul and southeastern city of Diyarbakir.
Micheline Calmy-Rey is scheduled to meet Gul and be received by Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
Turkey's European Union (EU) membership bid, so-called Armenian genocide allegations, ways of attracting Swiss investors to Turkey and increasing trade volume and enhancement of relations between the two countries will be taken up during Calmy-Rey's talks with Turkish officials.
During her stay in Turkey, Calmy-Rey will try to eliminate the negative impact of the resolution adopted by Switzerland two years ago regarding the so-called Armenian genocide on bilateral relations.
As two countries plan to increase their trade volume of 4 billion USD, Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen is expected to visit Switzerland this June. One of the other steps aiming to improve economic relations will be the visit of Joseph Deiss, former state minister of Switzerland who is appointed to the ministry for economy. Deiss is expected to visit Turkey in September. Switzerland is the sixth country having investments in Turkey.
One of the targets of not only Calmy-Rey's but also other visits is to help the two nations and officials to understand each other and different political systems. In this context, reciprocal visits are expected to be made between the two parliaments and press organs.
During these meetings, Turkish officials are expected to once more demand that the PKK be considered as a terrorist network in Switzerland.
EFFECTS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ALLEGATIONS
The main development which had a negative impact on Turkish-Swiss relations is the resolutions adopted by this country regarding the so-called Armenian genocide.
Bilateral relations between Turkey and Switzerland had become tense after Vaud canton in Switzerland adopted a resolution acknowledging the so-called Armenian genocide, and after Calmy-Rey delayed her visit to Ankara scheduled for October 2003.
Ankara had told Swiss authorities that it would be better if Calmy-Rey delayed her visit, and paid this visit in a future date. But, Calmy-Rey, who considered Turkey's sensitivity as ''exaggerated'', said that they had conveyed their uneasiness about this incident to Turkish authorities, and added, ''this incident is not facilitating our bilateral relations which we have established with patience in recent years.''
After this resolution of Vaud canton, the Swiss Federal Assembly's National Council wing also adopted a resolution on the so-called Armenian genocide. This resolution was strongly condemned by Turkish Foreign Ministry.
In the meantime, Tages-Anzeiger newspaper published in Zurich wrote a story in which it claimed that Calmy-Rey's visit to Ankara was delayed because a Turkish intelligence officer saw Calmy-Rey talking with a supporter of the terrorist organization in a reception more than a minute.
The newspaper also wrote that Turkish intelligence officer informed the Swiss police about this meeting of the foreign minister, and the note sent to the Swiss police was later conveyed to then Swiss President Pascal Couchepin.
Swiss chief prosecutor's office considered the claim that Turkish intelligence officer saw that Calmy-Rey talked to a supporter of the terrorist organization and therefore, Calmy-Rey's visit to Turkey was cancelled, as ''bewildering''.
SWITZERLAND'S VIEW
On the other hand, views of Swiss diplomats about the so-called Armenian genocide are different than the resolutions adopted.
Diplomats working at the department of the Swiss Foreign Ministry responsible for Turkey stated that ''tragic incidents that occurred those days could not be classified as genocide'', and said that this matter should be taken up by the historians.
Stressing that the resolutions adopted by Vaud canton and the national council ''were not a part of the State policy of Switzerland'', the same diplomats said that the government was not influential over the parliament and administration of the cantons within the framework of the federal system in Switzerland.