Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 22 / Trend A.Taghiyeva /
As long as Azerbaijani territories are under Armenian occupation, normalisation of Armenian-Turkish relations is out of the question, the deputy of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey from the Party of Justice and Development, Mustafa Kabakci told Trend on Tuesday.
"Turkey's position on normalisation of relations with Armenia is clear: It will not change its position until Armenia withdraws from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan," Kabakci said.
The deputy noted that Armenia should recognise the genocide committed in Khojaly against Azerbaijani civilians, answer for their crimes in the face of the international community and only after that, would it be possible to talk about establishing any relations with Turkey.
Earlier, the presidential candidate of Armenia, incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan didn't exclude the possibility of removing the issue of the Armenian-Turkish relations from the agenda of the parliament.
Alongside, Sargsyan stated that Armenia doesn't intend to make any new initiatives on Armenian-Turkish relations in the foreseeable future.
On October 10, 2009, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia, Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandian, signed protocols in Zurich on the normalisation of bilateral relations. These protocols need to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries in order to enter into force.
The Turkish Government has repeatedly stated that relations between Ankara and Yerevan will be restored after Armenia withdraws from the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and the border between them has been closed since 1993. This was caused by Armenian claims for international recognition of the so-called "genocide" and occupation of Azerbaijani territories.
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.