Azernews.Az

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has directed considerable criticism at the country`s opposition over its position on the prospects for opening the Turkey-Armenia border.
"The way the opposition approaches the border opening issue is filthy and they are libeling the authorities," he said.
The premier pledged that taking such a step was out of the question unless the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict is resolved.
According to Erdogan, the goal of ongoing talks is to set the stage for a speedy settlement to the long-standing Garabagh problem. He expressed disappointment that the OSCE Minsk Group brokering the peace process has not managed to negotiate a settlement.
Turkish lawmakers representing the Republican People`s and Nationalist Movement Parties have opposed plans to open the border with Armenia. In a statement, they said for normalization of bilateral relations and the border opening to be possible Armenia must pull out of the occupied Azerbaijani territories, put an end to its efforts to achieve international recognition of the alleged World War I-era genocide in the Ottoman Empire and formally relinquish its territorial claims against Turkey.
Armenia and Turkey maintain no diplomatic ties and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993. However, there have been signs of normalization in Ankara-Yerevan ties of late, and the two countries` officials have held several rounds of talks. Recent media reports claiming that the Turkish-Armenian border is expected to re-open soon have sparked an outcry in Azerbaijan.

Protests
Protesters have taken to the streets in several northwestern cities in Turkey to counter supposed plans by the government to open the country`s border with Armenia, according to Hasan Zeynalov, the Azerbaijani Chief Consul in Gars.
Zeynalov told the Baku-based ANS TV channel that demonstrators in Gars, Gaziantep, Igdir and Amasia insisted that opening the border is out of the question until the Garabagh conflict is resolved. Local residents said they would do everything in their power to prevent this from happening.
Most of the cities where protests took place are predominantly settled by ethnic Azerbaijanis.
The chief consul also said that work was underway to create crossing facilities in Igdir and at Turkey-Armenia cross-border checkpoints.