AZERI SPOKESMAN LINKS ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER OPENING TO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

Day.Az
Sept 1 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku, 1 September: Azerbaijan’s position on the opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border is based on numerous statements made by
senior officials of the Republic of Turkey, press secretary of the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elxan Poluxov has said.

[Passage omitted: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated
in the Azerbaijani parliament on 14 May 09 that Turkey will open
borders with Armenia only after the latter’s occupation of Azerbaijani
lands ends.]

At the same time, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry once again says
that, in principle, it is the sovereign right of any state to define
its relations with other states.

"However, taking in to account that this issue directly affects
Azerbaijan’s national interests, the opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border without [prior to] the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagornyy Karabakh runs counter to Azerbaijan’s national
interests," Poluxov said.