Armenian Azeri pullout would help accord -Erdogan
11 Oct 2009 11:33:13 GMT
Source: Reuters

ISTANBUL, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
said on Sunday that Armenia’s withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh in
Azerbaijan would help gain his parliament’s approval for a peace accord
signed between Turkey and Armenia.

"We as a government paved the way for this co-operation, but whether or
not it will be applied is up to parliament to decide," he told a party
congress in Ankara.

Turkey would not look favourably on the accords, signed in Zurich on
Saturday, unless Armenia withdraws from Azerbaijani land, he said.

"If that issue is solved our people and our parliament will have a more
positive attitude towards this protocol and this process."

Turkey cut ties and shut its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of
Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan which was then fighting a losing battle
against Armenian separatists in Karabakh.

(Writing by Alexandra Hudson)