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FM: Turkey will establish relations with Armenia only after liberation of Azerbaijani territories

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 7 July 2012 12:12 (UTC +04:00)
First Armenia should liberate the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and only after that Ankara can think about the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, the Milliyet newspaper quotes Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying on Saturday.
FM: Turkey will establish relations with Armenia only after liberation of Azerbaijani territories

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 7 / Trend, A. Taghiyeva /

First Armenia should liberate the occupied Azerbaijani territories, and only after that Ankara can think about the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, the Milliyet newspaper quotes Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying on Saturday.

"We repeat every time that Armenia must liberate Azerbaijani territories. After that Armenian-Turkish border will be opened, and economic cooperation, which will revitalize Armenian economy, will be established," 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 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven 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 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.

There are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia, and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993. The reasons are that the Armenians claim for international recognition of the so-called genocide and that the Armenian armed forces have occupied Azerbaijani territories.

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