Azerbaijan, Baku, April 14 / Trend , J.Babayeva/
The Azerbaijani parliamentary speaker believes opening the Turkish-Armenian borders does not meet Azerbaijan's national interests.
"The Azerbaijani people demonstrated solidarity in opening of the Turkish-Armenian borders and showed unity of the Azerbaijani and Turkish people. Our people always were unified and always will be so," Azerbaijani Parliamentary Speaker Ogtay Asadov said at a meeting of the parliament.
Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993 due to Armenia's claims of an alleged genocide, and the country's occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan on Sept. 6, 2008 upon the invitation of his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisyan to watch an Armenia-Turkey football match.
Efforts have been made to normalize ties between the two countries ever since
After the Turkish and Azerbaijani society's serious dissatisfaction, Turkish Prime Minister Receb Tayyib Erdogan told journalists last week that borders with Armenia will not be open until settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
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