Azernews.Az

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations and settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict are related issues.
"No matter how much they try to resolve these issues separately, behind the scenes, they are inter-related," he said, while commenting on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin’s recent statement that opposed combining Garabagh settlement and Turkey-Armenia reconciliation into the same package.
In remarks quoted by the local media, Erdogan reminded that the Turkish-Armenian border had been shut nearly two decades ago due to the Garabagh conflict.
"If the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is settled and the occupation of Garabagh is ended, the Turkey-Armenia issue will be easily resolved. If Armenia has good intentions, it should start with withdrawing from the regions it occupies. Then a positive shift is possible," the Turkish premier said.
Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993. Armenia's occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, Turkey’s ally, and Yerevan’s claims on the 1915 genocide have been obstacles to normal relations between the two countries.
Erdogan noted that Turkey has taken strides toward normalizing its relations with Armenia.
"Having taken some risks, we have authorized transport plane flights to Armenia and opened the Yerevan-Istanbul flights. We have opened air communications, but opening the overland border is a different issue."
According to Erdogan, these matters were openly discussed with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin during his two-day visit to Moscow earlier this week.
"Russia is the country that has the strongest clout over Armenia within the OSCE Minsk Group. But Russia’s different position on the issue is complicating achieving result," Erdogan said.
Armenia has had territorial claims against Azerbaijan, its South Caucasus neighbor, since the early 1990s. The country’s armed forces have been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory, defying international law. The United States, Russia and France are mediating efforts aiming to reach a settlement through the Minsk Group.*