Turkish speaker says relations with Azerbaijan cannot be harmed

"One million Karabakh people will be displaced and will try to survive, and we will open the border gate with Armenia. Such a thing cannot happen," Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan was quoted by the Anatolian Agency as saying following his meeting with the Azeri parliaments.  Â

Turkey’s border with Yerevan was closed in 1993 over Armenia's invasion of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory.

The two countries have no diplomatic relations; however, Ankara and Yerevan have been engaged in a normalization process that includes reopening the border, since Gul paid a landmark visit to Armenia last year to watch a World Cup qualifying football match between the countries’ national teams.

"Discussing all problems with Armenia, one of which is Karabakh, does not cause any weakness in Turkish-Azerbaijani relations, and it does not mean that Turkey is making concessions of its policies regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh issue," Toptan also said.

He said Turkey's views were very clear and obvious, and said nobody knew when those discussions would be completed, or whether or not they would bear positive results.

Toptan added that Turkey would never give up Azerbaijan, and two countries should join forces and move forward together.

 

Occupation must end first

Azerbaijani lawmaker Genire Pasayeva said the border crossing with Armenia could not be opened before the invasion of Azerbaijani territories ended.

"We are not telling to keep the borders closed, but we are saying that Armenia should withdraw from our territories and recognize Turkey's territorial integrity," Anatolian Agency also quoted her as saying.

Azeri officials have expressed concern over the prospect of the border being reopened and some media reports suggested that Baku might even go one step further in halting the sale of natural gas to Turkey.

Azerbaijan, which has strong cultural and historic ties with Turkey, says opening the border before the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the country’s occupied territories would run counter to its national interests.

In a bid to soothe Azerbaijan’s concerns, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said the deadlock over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave must be resolved before Turkey and Armenia strike a deal.