The Armenian border been closed since 1993, when Armenia attacked Azerbaijani territory. Speaking to Today's Zaman, Çiçek also stated that as April 24, the anniversary of an alleged genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans in 1915, approaches, no mass cleansing occurred as the Armenians have claimed. Çiçek said Turkey was trying to understand the Armenians, adding his belief that relations between the two countries should normalize. Çiçek said the TTK was not against the opening of the border but added that Turkey had some conditions. He said: "In 1993, the Armenians drove the Azerbaijanis out of their own land and staged large-scale massacres, after which Turkey closed its Armenian border and explained the preconditions for reopening the border. These are for Armenia to pull out of Azerbaijani territory and to stop referring to Turkey's eastern Anatolian lands as 'Western Armenia.' The border should not be opened unless both of these conditions are fulfilled, but the relations should be normalized and the two nations should make peace."
Çiçek also said Armenians started disseminating propaganda on an international level one week before the forced deportation of Anatolia Armenians even started in 1915, adding that the Armenians have come a long way since that time. Stating that Armenians always keep their grief alive, Çiçek said Turkey has kept silent for years with an understanding of "let's look into the future and forget our past grievances." This is why, Çiçek asserted, Turkey has been late to provide explanations to the international community regarding the rationale and rightful intentions causing Turkey to decide to launch the 1915 forced deportation campaign. "Now, no matter what we do to counter their claims, it is not enough because we have started only recently. We are sincerely trying to understand what happened to the Armenians, what made their agony different from ours," Çiçek emphasized, adding that Turkey should develop a policy that respects the deaths and losses of Armenians.
