Turkey should not give way to the influence of persons and groups in the issue of connection of the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement and the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and should act on the basis of statements by the Prime Minister, said Yasar Yakis, a member of the Turkish Parliament and former Foreign Minister.
Statements by the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the United States that the Armenian-Turkish protocols will not be ratified without progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are already the clear position of Turkey, and any statements from the outside are empty, Yakis told Trend News special correspondent in Mardin.
Former Turkish Foreign Minister takes part in the second Turkish-European forum, held in the Turkish city of Mardin.
“We are negotiating with the European Union and EU structures,” Yakis said, adding that statements by separate persons of EU do not reflect the position of the Union.
“We must adhere to only the statements [of Erdogan] that without solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, promotion can not be in this matter [the Armenian-Turkish normalization],” said Yakis.
Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocols in Zurich Oct. 10.
Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey have been broken due to Armenia’s claims of an alleged genocide, and its occupation of Azerbaijani lands. The border between them has been broken since 1993.
