Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
October 28, 2008 Tuesday

TURKEY TO BRING TOGETHER AZERI, ARMENIAN OFFICIALS

A trilateral meeting of Azerbaijani, Armenian and Turkish officials is
planned soon to discuss the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh conflict, Turkish Ambassador in Baku, Hulusi Kilic, has
said. Commenting on Armenian President Serzh Sarkisians recent
statement regarding the possibility of opening the Turkey-Armenia
border, Kilic reiterated that this was out of the question until
Armenia withdraws its armed forces from the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. Turkey closed its border with Armenia on April 4,
1993. The sole reason for this was this countrys coveting brotherly
Azerbaijans land, the ambassador said. Armenia has been occupying over
20% of Azerbaijani territory since the early 1990s in defiance of
international law. The Turkish ambassador said earlier that upon
election to the UN Security Council, Ankara would demand enforcement
of the four UN resolutions calling for unconditional withdrawal of the
Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories. Turkey was
elected an associate member of the UN SC on October 17, gaining votes
cast by 80 out of 100 countries.