TURKISH PM URGES NAGORNO-KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
Associated Press Worldstream
May 17, 2010 Monday 7:13 PM GMT
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that his nation won’t
ratify a deal to normalize ties with Armenia until the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute is settled.
Neither Turkey nor Armenia have ratified the October agreement to
restore diplomatic ties and reopen their shared border.
Erdogan said Monday on a visit to Azerbaijan that the Turkish
parliament won’t ratify the Octobber deal until there is a settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 to protest the
Armenia-backed war by separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan that has been under the
control of ethnic Armenian forces since a six-year conflict ended with
a 1994 truce. Turkey shares ethnic and cultural bonds with Azerbaijan.