Turkish FM Babacan says Armenia solution was never this close

"The Serzh Sargsyan administration believes that solution of problems with both Turkey and Azerbaijan will bring stability and welfare to the country," Ali Babacan told in an interview with the daily.

He added that both Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev show the necessary will to find a solution.  Â

"If they progress, our job will also be easier," Babacan said. "We are not at the stage that we can put forward the final points, but we have made much progress," he added.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and their border has been closed for more than a decade, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's call to investigate the allegations, and Armenia's invasion of 20 percent territory of Azerbaijan.

A warmer period began in relations when Turkish President Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to Yerevan in September. The two countries have been holding contacts at the minister level since.

Turkish, Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers have also held trilateral meetings, and agreed to work on a lasting peace agreement and to continue their meetings.

Aliyev, Sargsyan and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a joint declaration asserting their desire to find a political settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in November.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 on Armenian territorial claims over Azerbaijan. Since 1992 Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts.