AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Jan 14 2010

Putin says no link between Garabagh and Turkey-Armenia ties

14-01-2010 06:31:31

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said linking the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh and the issue of
normalizing Turkey-Armenia relations is inappropriate.
Putin made the statement at a news conference after hosting his
Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, adding that
Russia was ready to facilitate the solution of both issues.
`If we take into account that the Upper Garabagh and Turkey-Armenia
problems are complicated issues as they are, I don’t think it would be
right to combine them into the same package,’ he said.
The Russian prime minister said solving either problem separately is
already a daunting task. `If we put everything together, the prospect
of solving the issue will automatically become very distant.’
Putin added that linking Garabagh settlement with Ankara-Yerevan
normalization would be unsuitable `from the tactical and strategic
viewpoints.’
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for nearly two
decades. Russia co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group brokering the peace
process, along with the United States and France.*