Armenia denies Azeri leader’s remarks on opening of Turkish border

Mediamax news agency
25 Mar 04

YEREVAN

The Armenian Foreign Ministry today expressed its disagreement with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statement that “the Nagornyy
Karabakh settlement will be generally impossible if Turkey opens its
border with Armenia because Azerbaijan will have lost an important
lever”.

Mediamax news agency reports that the press secretary of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, said in Yerevan today that “we, on
the contrary, are confident that the opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border will not only help develop regional cooperation, but will also
have a favourable influence on the settlement of the Karabakh
problem”.

“Turkey can actually become an important lever in the economic and
political development of our region, if it gives up its lopsided
pro-Azerbaijani position,” Gasparyan said.