The process of normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations certainly will face difficulties until the problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia is solved, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in televised address to the nation on Friday.
According to Erdogan, during his meeting with Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan in Washington, he talked in detail about the expectations of Turkey in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the steps his country intends to take to resolve the conflict, CNN Turk reported.
“It was very important for us”, said the Turkish PM.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the United States – are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.
Trend