Azernews.Az

ANKARA – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said Ankara aims to establish lasting peace and stability in the volatile Caucasus region, but the stalemate in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh is causing "a negative atmosphere in regional dynamics".

"We are seeking ways to alleviate the problem so that the region would draw closer to peace and stability," he said in an interview with Armenia’s Arminfo news agency.

Davutoglu said a step forward should be taken to resolve the Karabakh conflict, which is a key hurdle to regional peace and security. "This step would certainly serve as an impetus to the processes of normalization in all directions."

The minister said Karabakh settlement and Turkey-Armenia reconciliation "are not linked only at first glance".

"Each of these issues has its own dynamics and forums for negotiations. We are not denying that. But the inter-relation between the two processes is undisputable…Positive shifts in one of these issues could facilitate progress in the other."

Azerbaijan and Armenia waged a brutal war in early 1990s which claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about a million Azerbaijanis. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory has been under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces since a ceasefire was signed in 1994. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.

Turkey, Azerbaijan’s ally, which faces decades of hostility with Armenia, in late 2009 signed agreements with Yerevan to establish diplomatic relations and reopen its border with the neighboring country. Ankara assured Azerbaijan, however, that the protocols would not be ratified until progress is made in resolving the Karabakh conflict. In response, Yerevan suspended parliamentary approval of the accords in April 2010.