Armenia slams Turkish PM over Karabakh link to border opening

Any Turkish attempt to interfere in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can only harm the ongoing negotiations between Baku and Yerevan, Armenian media quoted President Sezrh Sargsyan as saying after meeting Brian Fall, Britain’s special representative for the South Caucasus. Â

 

"If Turkey wishes to help resolve the conflict, it had better refrain from interfering in the process," Sargsyan said.Â

 

Turkey will not open its border with Armenia before the neighboring country ends its occupation of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, Erdogan reiterated after meeting Azerbaijani president in Baku whre he visited to reassure Azeri leaders that Ankara's efforts to reconcile with Yerevan would not undermine the country's interests.

 

Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian also said Turkey's support to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be in not interfering with the process, according to reports on Friday.

 

Nalbandian was quoted by Armenian media as saying during a separate meeting with Fall that the negotiations aimed at settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute are carried out within the OSCE Minsk Group based on the Madrid principles, and the two sides are trying to approximate their positions.

 

Ankara cut diplomatic links with Yerevan and closed the border in a show of support to Azerbaijan in 1993 after 20 percent of its territory was invaded by Armenia in the disputed region -- a frozen conflict legacy of the Soviet Union known as Nagorno-Karabakh.

 

Turkey and Armenia, however, agreed last month on a "road map" deal for U.S.-backed talks that could lead to the normalizing of ties and the opening of their border.

 

The Ankara-Yerevan thaw has reportedly disturbed Azerbaijan, which says opening the border before the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the country’s occupied territories would run counter to its national interests.

 

Photo is an archive image.