Armenian president hopes Turkey border reopens before Oct 7

''Armenia and Turkey are approaching the final stage of negotiations. As you know, we agreed to start negotiations with Turkey without preconditions,'' PanArmenian.net quoted Sargsyan as saying in an interview with Russia's Vesti TV Channel.           Â

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and their border has been closed since 1993 over Armenia's invasion ofÂ20 percent of Azerbaijani territory – a frozen conflict legacy of the Soviet Union known as Nagorno-Karabakh.Â

Ankara and Yerevan however have been engaged in a normalization process, including the reopening of the border, since Turkish President Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to Armenia last year to watch a World Cup qualifying football match between the countries’ national teams.

"We showed goodwill and I hope the Turkish side will also appreciate our good intentions," Sargsyan said.

The Turkish and Armenian national football teams will play the return World Cup qualifying match on Oct. 7 in Turkey.Â

Azeri concerns
Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen told reporters at a conference on Friday it would be wrong for Turkey to take any steps regarding the Armenian issue before progress is made regarding the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.Â

He said first Armenia must recognize the borders with Turkey and end its occupation on the Azeri territory.

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.Â

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

Tuzmen said he had visited Azerbaijan ahead of the March 29 local elections and conveyed Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's sensitivity on the issue to Turkish government officials, adding he believed that the Turkish Foreign Ministry would consider these sensitivities.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan also said Wednesday it will be difficult to overcome problems with Armenia unless the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved, in a bid to soothe Azerbaijan’s concerns.