Azernews.Az

BAKU - A senior Azerbaijani official has said his country does not expect its ally Turkey to temporarily reopen its border with Armenia that has been shut over long-standing hostility during NATO’s military exercises due in the South Caucasus republic in September.

Novruz Mammadov, the Azerbaijani presidential aide on international relations, told the Baku-based ANS TV channel that Baku believes Ankara will not take the step, though Turkish President Abdullah Gul did not state a clear-cut stance on the issue during his visit to Azerbaijan earlier this week.

"This issue has been touched upon for several months," Mammadov said. "The Turkish side has once stated that this will not happen. This statement was made on the foreign minister’s level. In Baku, the Turkish head of state answered the question in a broader aspect, from a conceptual viewpoint, and this answer wasn’t concrete.

"The development of our relations and the responsibility we have assumed are once again grounds for us to hope that Turkey will not open its border with Armenia as part of these exercises even temporarily."

Turkey and Armenia have been at odds for decades and their shared border has been shut since 1993 due to Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Armenian claims on World War I-era "genocide". In October 2009, in Zurich, the two governments signed agreements to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders. However, the accords require approval by both countries’ parliaments. This April, Yerevan suspended the parliamentary approval of the deals.

Media reports have claimed that the Turkish-Armenian border will temporarily reopen during the exercises due in Armenia within NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) program September 11-17. The alliance and its partner states will practice delivering international aid in the event of a potential humanitarian disaster in the region.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for two decades.