TURKISH FM SAYS NEW CLIMATE IN CAUCASUS TO SOLVE DISPUTES
Hurriyet
Nov 20 2008
Turkey
There is new climate in the Caucasus to solve the ongoing disputes,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Thursday.
"There is a new environment in the region to solve ongoing
disputes. This is a significant opportunity we should well-assess,"
he told a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu
after their meeting in Ankara.
Babacan said Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian would visit
Istanbul on Nov. 24 and that they would meet over dinner on the
same night.
"Our goal in the Turkey-Armenia dialogue process is full
normalization. However, we need to take mutual steps to reach that
point," Babacan said.
"On the other hand, the talks in the region have two separate
lines. One of them is between Turkey and Armenia, and the other between
Azerbaijan and Armenia. Tripartite meetings will take place from time
to time to secure coordination between these two separate lines,"
he added.
There is no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey over
Armenia’s aggression toward Azerbaijan. But a warmer period began
between Turkey and Armenia after Gul paid a landmark visit to Armenia
early September.
Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders met in Moscow earlier this month
and signed a declaration calling for a "peaceful resolution" to
their dispute over the province of Nagorno-Karabakh on the basis of
"binding international guarantees", taking a step further towards
resolution of the conflict.
The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 on Armenian
territorial claims over Azerbaijan.
Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20 percent of
Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven
surrounding districts, displacing 10 percent of the Azeri population
in the series of bloody clashes both between and within the two
neighboring countries.
In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group are currently holding peaceful negotiations. Nearly 30,000 were
killed in the 1990s war over the enclave and soldiers on both sides
continue to exchange sporadic fire, claiming lives.