Azerbaijan, Baku, April 4 / Trend, I. Izzet /
Opening Turkey's border with Armenia is only possible after an agreement with Azerbaijan, former Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin told Trend on Thursday.
According to him, Azerbaijan and Turkey have a very close relationship, and Turkey can not unilaterally open the border with Armenia.
"Turkey and Azerbaijan have a special relationship. Nobody has described it better than the great leader Heydar Aliyev: "One nation - two states." Turkey's border with Armenia may not be opened unilaterally. This is very important in terms of relations with the South Caucasus, in particular with Azerbaijan. The border was open back when I was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, we shut it down when Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
The opening of the border between Turkey and Armenia is only possible after an agreement with Azerbaijan has been reached. Turkey should not make any decision potentially harmful for Azerbaijan", Cetin said.
With regard to the opening of the Van-Yerevan flight, the ex-minister said that was a decision of a private company, not the Turkish government.
"Turkey is an open country, and private companies can make any decisions. However, observing Azerbaijan's concern on the issue, the decision was canceled", Cetin said.
According to him, peace must be established in the region. However, this peace must be consistent with international laws and the UN resolutions.
"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be solved step by step. At the first stage, at least five regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh must be freed. This would mark a sign to promote the settlement of the conflict", Cetin said.
The reasons for the rupture of relations and closing of the border with Armenia in 1993 were Yerevan's claims for worldwide recognition of the 'Armenian genocide' and the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenian armed forces.