LEADER OF TURKEY’S FELICITY PARTY: "THE BORDERS WITH ARMENIA SHOULD NOT BE REOPENED UNLESS IT RELEASES THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES"

APA
Sept 15 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has begun meetings
with the leaders of opposition parties within the framework of the
six-week internal political discussions on the protocols initialed
with Armenia, APA reports quoting CNN Turk.

Ahmet Davutoglu first met with Numan Kurtulmus, leader of Felicity
Party which has no seats in the parliament.

After the meeting the Foreign Minister said the meeting was
constructive and it is natural that the position of the opposition
differs from that of the government.

Davutoglu and Kurtulmus discussed the processes in the Caucasus,
current state of Turkey-Armenia, Turkey-Azerbaijan relations, Cyprus
problem, tension between Iraq and Syria, Middle East peace process
and Iran.

Kurtulmus said Turkey should not reopen the borders unless Armenia
releases Nagorno Karabakh and the other occupied territories.

"If Turkey does not take right steps in terms of Armenian issue,
problems will appear in the relations with Azerbaijan and the
new strategy that Turkey tries to implement in the Caucasus will
collapse. In this case not only Caucasus but also all Turkic-speaking
states will lose confidence in Turkey, it will become an unreliable
country," he said.

Following this, Ahmet Davutoglu met with leader of Republican People’s
Party Deniz Baykal.

The Foreign Minister will also meet with leader of Democratic Left
Party Mesum Turker, leader of Democratic Party Husamettin Cindoruk,
leader of Great Unity Party Yalchin Topchu and leader of Democratic
Society Party Ahmet Turk. Leader of Nationalist Movement Party Devlet
Bahceli refused to meet with the minister.