No Karabakh, no opening of border

Turkey will never abandon Azerbaijan and will never open its border with Armenia until Karabakh is returned to Azerbaijan. This statement was made by Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic on June 12 at the round table meeting entitled ‘Azerbaijan-Turkish Relations in the Context of Regional Geopolitics.’

20% of Azeri territories have been occupied by Armenia for 18 years. Some people have wanted to create discord between brotherly nations Turkey and Azerbaijan by suggesting the possible reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border but the recent visit of Turkish Prime Minister to Azerbaijan revealed the true situation, Kilic stated

The thawing of relations between Turkey and Armenia began on April 23, 2009 when Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan to watch a football match between the two countries.

A joint statement was made by the Foreign Ministries of Armenia, Turkey and Switzerland which claimed that encouraging progress had been made in regulating Turkey-Armenia relations, but the document did not mention Karabakh at all.

The Turkish PM has linked the development of these relations with the Karabakh problem being resolved in a way favourable to Azerbaijan, most probably following a categorical demand by the Azeri side.