TURKISH PM REASSURES AZERBAIJAN ON ARMENIA TIES

Agence France Presse
May 13 2009

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday promised
Azerbaijan his country would not open its border with Armenia until
Armenian forces withdraw from disputed Nagorny Karabakh.

On a visit to Baku, Erdogan offered assurances that Turkey’s moves
towards reconciliation with Armenia would not come at the expense
of traditional support for Azerbaijan, which lost control of Nagorny
Karabakh in a 1990s war.

"The border was closed as a result of the occupation of Azerbaijani
territories and therefore it will not be opened until the occupation
ends," he said at a televised news conference with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev.

The Azerbaijani leader hailed the statement, saying: "The people
of Azerbaijan have been disturbed by reports in the mass media that
Turkey could open its borders with Armenia without the settlement of
the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.

"Now I can say to the Azerbaijani people that there are no more
suspicions on this…. There can be no more room for speculation,"
said Aliyev.

Erdogan flew to Azerbaijan on Tuesday to reassure its leaders that
Turkey’s efforts to reconcile with Armenia would not undermine Baku’s
interests.

Turkey said last month it had agreed a road map to normalise relations
with Armenia, its neighbour to the east, with which it has a bloody
history and no diplomatic ties.

Ankara has refused to establish diplomatic links with Armenia over
Yerevan’s efforts to have World War I-era massacres of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks recognised as genocide — a label Turkey strongly
rejects.

Azerbaijan, which shares ethnic and linguistic roots with Turkey,
is worried that Ankara may reconcile with Yerevan and re-open the
border between the two countries, ignoring Azerbaijani interests.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan over the Nagorny Karabakh dispute.

Backed by Armenia, ethnic Armenian separatists seized control of
Nagorny Karabakh in the early 1990s in a war that killed nearly 30,000
people and forced two million to flee their homes.

A ceasefire was signed between the two former Soviet republics in
1994 but the dispute remains unresolved.