Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday in Trieste, Italy G-8 foreign ministers issued a declaration in which they also defined efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia as positive, Turk.net reported.
"Support to the normalization process is positive, and at the same time the declaration refers to contacts of the Minsk Group regarding the Upper Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia," he said.
Davutoglu also said that carrying out the two processes in parallel with each other (Turkish-Armenian talks and Azerbaijani-Armenian talks) would ensure lasting peace in the region.
"Doing everything s/he can and staying away from possible tension is for everybody's best interests," Davutoglu said.
The Turkish foreign minister also appreciated the sincere efforts of Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities, and said Turkey was expecting a concrete progress.
Davutoglu also said that there was a positive atmosphere in the Middle East.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that there was a positive psychological atmosphere in the Middle East.
"However, this atmosphere should be turned into actual steps," Davutoglu told AA correspondent.
Davutoglu is actually in Trieste for the G-8 foreign ministers' meeting, and participated in a meeting on Afghanistan.
The Group of Eight (G8, and formerly the G6 or Group of Six) is a forum, created by France in 1975, for governments of eight nations of the northern hemisphere: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; in addition, the European Union is represented within the G8, but cannot host or chair.
The Turkish foreign minister referred to his visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan two weeks ago, and said he had the opportunity to share his observations and views about those countries with his counterparts participating in the Trieste meeting.
Davutoglu said he also met Senator George Mitchell, the U.S. special envoy for the Middle East, on the sidelines of the Trieste meeting.
"The fate of this region is important for us and the region cannot tolerate new wars or losses," he said.
Davutoglu underlined importance of reducing the tension and making all parties a part of the process.
The Turkish minister said Senator Mitchell shared with him the issues he discussed during his visit to Syria and the progress made so far.
Davutoglu said Turkey was attaching great importance to Syria's having a close relationship with the international community, and welcomed the decision of the United States to appoint an ambassador to Syria.
"Turkey is supporting every step reducing tension," he said.
Davutoglu said what Turkey wished was to launch a de facto well-operating process, not only seeing a psychological process in the region.
"If we achieve this, our region will have peace and order," he said.
Davutoglu also said that he would pay a formal visit to Moscow, Russia in the following week and exchange views with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov about bilateral relations and regional issues.