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Turkey Reaffirms Karabakh Precondition

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  • Turkey Reaffirms Karabakh Precondition

    TURKEY REAFFIRMS KARABAKH PRECONDITION

    Armenialiberty.org
    http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24514507.html
    March 13 2012

    Turkey remains adamant in making the normalization of its relations
    with Armenia conditional on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
    conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister
    Bekir Bozdag said on Tuesday.

    "Nagorno-Karabakh is a Muslim, Azerbaijani and Turkic land occupied
    by Armenia," Bozdag told journalists during a visit to Baku. "The
    Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is our common problem."

    "Until Armenia pulls out of Nagorno-Karabakh, until the rights of
    Azerbaijanis of that region are restored Turkish-Armenian relations
    will not be normalized," he said, according to the Trend news agency.

    Ankara has followed this line even after signing in 2009 two protocols
    with Yerevan that committed the two sides to establish diplomatic
    relations and open the Turkish-Armenian border. Turkish leaders have
    repeatedly said that the protocols will not be ratified by Turkey's
    parliament before a breakthrough in the international efforts to
    broker an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal on Karabakh.

    The Armenian side rejects this precondition, accusing the Turks of
    acting against the letter and spirit of the Western-backed protocols.

    President Serzh Sarkisian last year threatened to withdraw Yerevan's
    signature from the deal.

    Sarkisian mentioned the failed Turkish-Armenian normalization process
    when he addressed a congress of his Republican Party on Saturday. He
    insisted that despite the fiasco the unprecedented rapprochement
    between the two neighboring nations, which began in 2008, was worth it.

    "The entire world came to see that the only obstacle to the
    establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey is in Ankara
    and another capital ... but in no way or shape Yerevan," Sarkisian
    said. He argued that Ankara was "compelled" in 2009 to sign a legally
    binding document that calls for an unconditional normalization of
    Turkish-Armenian relations.

    Turkey has stood by the Karabakh linkage despite pressure from the
    United States. Visiting Ankara in December, U.S. Vice President Joe
    Biden expressed hope that the Turkish parliament will ratify the
    protocols "in the months ahead."




    From: A. Papazian
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