TURKEY COULD OPEN BORDER WITH ARMENIA

Southeast European Times
May 11 2009

ANKARA, Turkey — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey
could open its border with Armenia if Yerevan withdraws its troops
from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The two
neighbours have had no diplomatic relations for more than a decade,
since Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan. Last month, however, Turkey and Armenia agreed on a road
map to normalise ties and open their border. Erdogan also announced
on Friday (May 8th) that he will travel to Baku this week to meet
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and discuss the conflict
with Armenia. Azerbaijan has warned that opening the border before
the withdrawal of Armenian troops from those territories would harm
its national interests. (TRT, Anadolu news agency, Hurriyet – 09/05/09)