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Turkish FM: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved to normalize Turkey-Armenia relations

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 29 December 2010 10:34 (UTC +04:00)
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved for the normalization of the Turkey-Armenia relations, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview with TRT.
Turkish FM: Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved to normalize Turkey-Armenia relations

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved for the normalization of the Turkey-Armenia relations, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in an interview with TRT.

"We want to normalize relations with Armenia and want them to be sustainable. This requires the solution of frozen conflicts such as Nagorno-Karabakh," Davutoglu said.

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, while the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which includes Russia, France, and the U.S., are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

Regarding the issue of possible talks on resolving what was regarded by some as the "Armenian genocide" in April at the U.S. House of Representatives, Davutoglu said "people in Congress" who do not know any substance and history are trying to put pressure on Turkey, adding that Turkey does not want historical events to be used against it as a weapon of blackmail.

"This issue should not loom as the "sword of Damocles" over Turkey's relations with the United States," Davutoglu said.

The draft resolution recognizing the so-called "genocide" of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire has repeatedly been presented for discussions at the U.S. House of Representatives, but has not been adopted so far.  

The resolution on the so-claimed "Armenian genocide" was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 4, with twenty-three congressmen voting for the resolution and 22 against it. The vote opened the way for the measure possibly to be considered by the full House.

Armenia claims that in 1915, the Turkish Ottoman Empire committed "genocide" against the Armenians living in Anatolia.

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