Ex-minister rules out Turkey’s opening border with Armenia without Azerbaijan’s consent

Opening Turkey’s border with Armenia is only possible after an agreement with Azerbaijan, former Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin told Trend news agency on Thursday.

According to him, Azerbaijan and Turkey have a very close relationship, and Turkey can not unilaterally open the border with Armenia.

“Turkey and Azerbaijan have a special relationship. Nobody has described it better than the great leader Heydar Aliyev: “One nation – two states.” Turkey’s border with Armenia can not be opened unilaterally. This is very important in terms of relations with the South Caucasus, in particular with Azerbaijan. The border was open back when I was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, we shut it down when Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

The opening of the border between Turkey and Armenia is only possible after an agreement with Azerbaijan has been reached. Turkey should not make any decision potentially harmful for Azerbaijan,” Cetin said.

With regard to the opening of the Van-Yerevan flight, the ex-minister said that was a decision of a private company, not the Turkish government.

“Turkey is an open country, and private companies can make any decisions. However, observing Azerbaijan’s concern on the issue, the decision was canceled,” Cetin said.

According to him, peace must be established in the region. However, this peace must be consistent with international laws and the UN resolutions.

“The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be solved step by step. At the first stage, at least five regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh must be freed. This would mark a sign to promote the settlement of the conflict,” Cetin said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war in the early 1990s. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia’s withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.

A precarious cease-fire was signed in 1994. However, units of the Armenian armed forces commit armistice breaches on the frontline almost every day.

Russia, France and the U.S. — co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group — are mediating peace negotiations. Peace talks have been mostly fruitless so far.

via Ex-minister rules out Turkey’s opening border with Armenia without Azerbaijan’s consent – AzerNews.