US President Barack Obama, in a visit to Turkey this week, pressed Ankara and Yerevan to complete talks aimed at restoring diplomatic ties between the two neighbours, a move which could shore up stability in the volatile and oil-rich Caucasus. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan, which was fighting Armenian-backed separatists over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The Minsk group - set up in 1992 and co-chaired by Russia, the United States and France - is seeking a solution to Nagorno-Karabakh, one of the most intractable conflicts arising from the Soviet Union's collapse. There has been no progress.
Erdogan told a news conference late on Wednesday that a deal with Armenia, which could include the reopening of the border, would have to wait until Armenia and Azerbaijan first settled their dispute over
Nagorno-Karabakh.
"The Azerbaijan-Armenian dispute should be resolved first. Then, problems between Turkey and Armenia can be solved, too," Erdogan said.
"We hope the UN Security Council takes a decision naming Armenia as occupier in Nagorno-Karabakh and calling for a withdrawal from the region. This is a process the Minsk Group... could not succeed in for 17 years. We hope this trio will accomplish that." Azerbaijan, which shares linguistic and cultural ties with Turkey, has expressed deep concern over the possibility of a breakthrough in Turkish-Armenian ties, fearing reopening the border would weaken its hand in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In busy diplomatic activity, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul and Obama held separate telephone conversations this week to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkish officials said.
REUTERS
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