TURKEY’S ERDOGAN URGES SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
Southeast European Times
Sept 23 2009
NEW YORK, United States — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan urged international mediators on Tuesday (September 22nd)
to try to resolve the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. "The OSCE’s Minsk Group has an important role
in contributing to the improvement of the relations with Armenia,"
Erdogan said in New York, where he is participating in the 64th
session of the UN General Assembly.
Ankara is working to open its long-sealed border with Armenia by the
end of this year and establish diplomatic ties with Yerevan. Resolving
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would contribute to better ties
between the two countries. Talks on the future of Nagorno-Karabakh,
mediated by the Minsk Group, have dragged on for a decade. Turkey
closed its border with Armenia in 1993 as a gesture of solidarity
with Azerbaijan. (Reuters, Anadolu news agency, MIA – 22/09/09)