TURKISH FM MEETS AZERBAIJANI COUNTERPART, PRESIDENT IN BAKU

Hurriyet
Feb 9 2009
Turkey

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan met his Azeri counterpart Elmar
Mammadyarov and President Ilham Aliyev in the capital, Baku. (UPDATED)

Bilateral relations, regional developments and the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute were high on Babacan’s agenda.

Burak Ozugergin, spokesman for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
told the Anatolian Agency that Babacan highlighted the importance
of finding solutions to disputes to ensure stability in the region
during his meetings.

"Babacan said that the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute should be resolved
peacefully in line with international law and by protecting
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity," Ozugergin said.

The Turkish foreign minister met Saturday with his Armenian counterpart
Eduard Nalbandian and President Serzh Sargsyan in the sidelines of
the Munich Security Conference. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials
said the talks were quite productive.

Nagorno-Karabakh, a frozen conflict legacy of the Soviet Union, has
been standing at the center of Azerbaijan-Armenia and Turkey-Armenia
relations. Turkey closed its borders with Armenia due to Yerevan’s
aggression against Azerbaijan.

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.

Both countries continue with fruitless peace negotiations. The OSCE
Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, Russia, and France,
is engaged in efforts to the conflict peacefully.

Babacan returned to Turkey from Azerbaijan later on Monday.