TURKEY TO RAISE KARABAKH ISSUE WITH RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
news.az
April 27 2010
Azerbaijan
Ahmet Davutoglu Nagorno-Karabakh will be one of the main issues on
the agenda of the Russian president’s visit to Ankara, the Turkish
foreign minister has said.
‘Dmitry Medvedev is expected to visit in the near future. The problem
with the Azerbaijani territories will be one of the main issues. We
consider that topic as our own and always keep it on the agenda. From
now on, Turkey and Azerbaijan will coordinate their steps. No
development can affect the relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Everybody should bear this in mind,’ Davutoglu told the Turkish
parliament yesterday.
‘Relations between Armenia and Turkey will normalize. We do want it,’
the minister said, referring to rapprochement between Armenia and
Turkey. He expressed hope that the conflict between Azerbaijan and
Nagorno-Karabakh would also be resolved.
Davutoglu said that the ‘Turks and Armenians have co-existed for
centuries. Wherever in the world they meet, they should learn to
share not only each other’s pain, but also each other’s history’.
‘They have lived together and will do so in the future,’ he said,
adding that Turkey did not want the status quo to be preserved in
the Caucasus.
‘We are interested in whatever happens in Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan. Any approach by Russia and Iran towards the Caucasus is
directly related to us. For that reason we do not want this status
quo in the Caucasus. The status quo in the Caucasus is beneficial
neither for Turkey, nor for Armenia, nor for any other country,’
Davutoglu said.
‘Turkey-Armenia relations will become normalized,’ he said. ‘In
parallel, the occupation of Azerbaijani land will end and the dispute
between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be resolved. The border between
Azerbaijan and Armenia will open. It means a corridor from Erzurum
(a province in the east of Turkey) will open throughout Central Asia,’
he said.