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 ANKARA
(Combined Sources)—Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu
said Monday, immediately after the announcement of protocols by
his and his Armenian counterpart’s offices, that opening the
border was out of the question for now. “A longer process is
required for that,” he was quoted by Turkey’s NTV television
station as saying Monday.
In the same interview
Davutoglu said that Turkey would “guard” Azerbaijan’s interest
during its reconciliation with Armenia, saying in comments that
“our aim is to establish stability in the Caucasus.”
His comments reflected the
strong opposition to the opening of the border with Armenia in
Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Turkish opposition forces
have already denounced the protocol.
Davutoglu said that
“recognizing borders” was an important element of the protocols
on “Establishment of Diplomatic Relations” and “Development of
Bilateral Relations”
“Recognizing borders in
line with the international norms stemming from Kars agreement
is a basic element. Without that, we cannot talk about being
neighbors,” Davutoglu said.
Commenting on the six-week
internal political process that started with the protocols,
Davutoglu said an agreement would be signed by the end of such
period.
Both Davutoglu and Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed Tuesday, that the
final word on moving forward with relations rested on the
Armenian and Turkish parliaments. Without legislative approval,
envisioned after the signing of the draft protocols, there would
be no development of ties.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan said
Tuesday it did not expect Turkey to re-open its border with
Armenia until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolved.
Azeri foreign ministry
spokesman Elkhan Polukhov told AFP that Baku was confident
Ankara would not agree to open the border without a deal on
Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Azerbaijan’s position is
based on numerous statements from high-ranking officials in
Turkey on the question of opening the Armenian-Turkish border,”
he said.
“Opening the border
without the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would
contradict the interests of Azerbaijan,” he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu reiterated Tuesday in an interview with
broadcaster NTV that Ankara would safeguard Baku’s interests
while setting up ties with Armenia and could re-open the border
if the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute is resolved soon.
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