Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 28 / Trend A.Huseynbala /
The president and prime minister of Turkey will keep their promise on that the Turkey-Armenia borders will not be opened until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is solved, Chairman of the Turkish Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs Murad Mercan said at the Azerbaijani Parliament.
The Turkish parliament will not take any action that may worry the Azerbaijani people. Turkey's main aim is to achieve peace in the South Caucasus. Turkey will not take steps contradicting Azerbaijan's interests, Mercan added.
Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandian signed the protocols Ankara-Yerevan in Zurich on October 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.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7 districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
The chairman said the parliamentary committees of both countries should meet twice per year.
The next meeting between the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Turkey may be held in Nakhchivan, Mercan added.
Mercan heads the Turkish delegation which comprises MPs from the AKP (Justice and Development Party), including, Shaban Dishli, Zeynap Dagh, Fevzi Shanverdi, Abdullah Chalishkan and Mehmet Cherchi and MPs from MHP (National Movement Party), including Ahmet Daniz Bolukbashi and Shenol Bal, as well as Ambassador Akin Alqan, deputy director of the foreign ministry's department for Caucasus and Central Asia Ahmet Rza Demirer and representatives of the parliament's foreign affairs and protocol department Kurshat Sariarslan, Bulent Erten and Hatice Er Ars.
From the Turkish Foreign Ministry the delegation includes ambassador Akin Algan.
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