TURKISH MINISTER VIEWS DEVELOPMENTS IN CAUCASUS, CYPRUS

Anadolu Agency
July 2 2009
Turkey

Moscow, 2 July: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said [on]
Thursday [2 July] the "normalization process" between Turkey and
Armenia, and Minsk Group’s efforts to solve the Azerbaijani-Armenian
dispute have created a positive atmosphere in the Caucasus.

Speaking to Turkish reporters following his meeting with Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Davutoglu said that his
visit’s timing was crucial.

Since I have assumed the post of Turkish foreign minister,
I have been trying to visit countries to which we attach great
importance. Accordingly, I had talks in the States and Germany. I
visited Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the [self-declared]
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Within such a framework,
I paid a one-day working visit to Russia and had a chance to go over
our relations with Lavrov, Davutoglu said.

Referring to Turkish-Russian relations, Davutoglu stressed that there
is no political problem between the two countries.

There is a will on both sides to resolve certain technical and
bureaucratic problems, Davutoglu said.

In response to a question on Cyprus, Davutoglu said that Lavrov and
he discussed the issue of Cyprus.

Russia is a member of the United Nations Security Council. We consider
Cyprus to be a matter of the UN and do not think that it would be
appropriate to carry Cyprus to another platform. Turkey and Russia
share same viewpoints on Cyprus. The Russians also think that Cyprus
should be resolved within the boundaries of the UN, Davutoglu said.