Turkey affirms its relations with Armenia depend on Karabakh settlement
By Sabina Idayatova
The Turkish paliament speaker has cited the factor which could improve the country's relations with Armenia, reiterating Ankara's stance that its future relations with Yerevan depend on a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"The Nagorno-Karabakh problem hinders peace and security in the South Caucasus region. Support of Azerbaijan's fair position will continue to be one of the priority directions of the Turkish foreign policy," the Grand National Assembly speaker, Cemil Cicek, told reporters after attending the conference "Art and Culture in Heydar Aliyev world", dedicated to Azerbaijani national leader`s ninth death anniversary, Turkish Kanal B reported on Friday.
According to him, the indifferent attitude of international organizations toward the rights of internally displaced persons who were ousted from their homes during the brutal war fought by Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s is regretful.
Armenian-Turkish relations have long been strained over a number of historical and political issues, including Armenian occupation of a part of the territory of Azerbaijan, Turkey's ally, and claims on the World War I-era "genocide." After decades of hostility, Turkey and Armenia signed protocols in October 2009 on establishing diplomatic relations and reopening their sealed border, in a bid to begin normalizing bilateral relations. However, Turkey said no document would be ratified without a solution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Turkey co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 822 affirming Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan's territory and demanding that Armenian forces withdraw from Kalbajar region. Following the passage of the resolution in 1993 the Turkish-Armenian border was closed.
Armenia's hostile foreign policy makes the country an isolated and underdeveloped state of the South Caucasus region, deterring it from any economic partnership within the region. The two-decade-long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a stain upon the Armenian leadership and the Armenian nation.