Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reiterated the importance of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the principle of territorial integrity.

He made the remarks ahead of his upcoming visit to Armenia. Davutoglu will visit Yerevan to attend the Foreign Ministers Council of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) on December 12.

Davutoglu's visit to Yerevan will be the first since the failure of efforts to normalize the ties between the two countries four years ago.

Prior to his visit, Davutoglu said the details of his visit's schedule is not finalized yet, but Turkish media reported that he is expected to hold bilateral talks with some of the foreign ministers of BSEC member states.

Turkish official further said his country has always attached great importance to the normalization of relations with Armenia.

Davutoglu reminded that Turkey has always stated that the normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan will bring peace to the South Caucasus only under the condition of improvement of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the settlement of regional conflicts with the principle of territorial integrity of states.

He said Turkey has always embraced new ideas, initiatives and necessary steps to establish peace in the South Caucasus.

Davutoglu said the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, an unresolved dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, is the major obstacle in South Caucasus's path to stability and normalization.

He called for a "strong political will" to bring peace to South Caucasus.

Armenian-Turkish relations have been strained by a number of historical and political issues, including the allegations of Armenian Genocide. Although currently there is no formal diplomatic relations between the two states, it was announced on October 10, 2009 that both countries had agreed to establish mutual diplomatic recognition. However, the diplomatic efforts to normalize the relations have failed so far because of the continuing Nagarno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Turkish Government has repeatedly stated that Ankara's position in regards to the Turkish-Armenian and Azerbaijani-Armenian relations is clear and specific. Ankara says negotiations about normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations are only possible after liberation of the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The UN Security Council's four resolutions on Armenian armed forces' withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group's co-chairs, dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.