Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept.5. / Trend J. Babayeva /
The ruling New Azerbaijan Party considers that fraternal Turkey should not take steps against the interests of Azerbaijan.
"We respect the Turkish Prime Minister's statement made at the Azerbaijani parliament that without resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Turkish-Armenian borders will not be opened," the Deputy Chairman of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, MP Ali Ahmedov, told reporters on Sept.4.
We hope that the Nagorno-Karabakh problem will be the most important issue among the issues to be discussed during the negotiations between Turkey and Armenia, Ahmedov added.
On Aug. 31, Turkey and Armenia in the talks mediated by Switzerland reached an agreement to launch "internal political consultations" to sign the Protocol on Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and Protocol on Development of Bilateral Relations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reported.
The political consultations will complete within six weeks. Afterwards, two protocols to be submitted for approval by the parliaments of two countries will be signed," the same source added.
At present, Turkey does not plan to disclose the borders with the neighboring Armenia, Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davudoglu said.
There are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia and the borders have been closed since 1993.
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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