Azerbaijan, Baku, October 11/ Trend R. Hafizoglu /
The occupied Azerbaijani territories need to be liberated to resume the Turkish- Armenian dialogue, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a joint press conference held with Swiss Foreign Minister, Anadolu agency reported on Friday.
According to him, four years ago Ankara tried having dialogue with Yerevan , but due to the fault of the Armenian side, the talks were broken off.
He also added that Turkey hopes to resume negotiations between the parties.
According to the Foreign Minister, the resumption of Turkish- Armenian dialogue should take place in parallel with negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
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.