Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ANKARA: Baku-Yerevan Dialogue Will Help Normalization, Babacan

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ANKARA: Baku-Yerevan Dialogue Will Help Normalization, Babacan

    BAKU-YEREVAN DIALOGUE WILL HELP NORMALIZATION, BABACAN

    Hurriyet
    Dec 2 2008
    Turkey

    ISTANBUL - Better ties between Turkey and Armenia would help resolve
    the longstanding conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, said the Turkish
    foreign minister yesterday.

    "The normalisation of Turkish-Armenian relations would have a positive
    impact on the Azerbaijan-Armenia talks over Nagorno-Karabakh,"
    Ali Babacan told reporters after a meeting with his Azerbaijani
    counterpart, Elmar Memmedyarov, in Baku.

    The dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan has intensified through
    the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe's, or OSCE,
    Minsk process, Babacan added. "The fact that parts of Azerbaijani
    territory are under Armenian occupation is a problem that needs to
    be urgently addressed. Turkey, one of 11 members of the Minsk group,
    attaches great importance to the process," he said and added he hoped
    recent diplomatic traffic would yield results soon.

    Caucasus platform proposal Babacan's visit came amid a push by Turkey
    for more influence in the volatile Caucasus region, where Russia
    and Georgia fought a brief war in August. After the conflict, Ankara
    proposed the creation of a new forum for cooperation in the region,
    for which Babacan called on regional governments to support. "All
    the countries of the region must sit at the bargaining table," he said.

    Before his departure for Azerbaijan late Sunday, Babacan told reporters
    he would meet his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts in Helsinki
    at an OSCE meeting this week.

    "There is an ongoing process between Azerbaijan and Armenia and there
    is also a parallel process between Turkey and Armenia," Babacan was
    quoted by the Anatolia News Agency as saying. "Following the OSCE
    meeting, I will have separate meetings with the two ministers."

    Babacan is expected to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and the
    normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia with his
    Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts. Babacan also said there had
    been no date set for a tripartite meeting of the ministers of Turkey,
    Azerbaijan and Armenia.

    NATO meeting The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in
    1988 due to Armenian territorial claims over Azerbaijan. Since 1992,
    Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan including
    the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
    1994 Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
    time active hostilities ended. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
    are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

    Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and their border has
    been closed for more than a decade over Armenian aggression toward
    Azerbaijan.

    After Baku, Babacan will proceed to Brussels for the NATO foreign
    ministers meeting.
Working...
X