FM: Turkey not to open borders with Armenia to hold NATO military exercises

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 17 / Trend /

Turkey will not open its border with Armenia to conduct NATO military exercises, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today at a press conference in Almaty within the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported with reference to Anadolu news agency.

“I have spoken on this subject with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, stressing that it is impossible to open the border now. Let no one expect it”, Davutoglu said.

It was previously stated that Turkey does not exclude the possibility of partial and temporary opening of the Turkish-Armenian border from September 11-17, 2010 as part of NATO military exercises planned in Armenia.

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 17 /Trend/

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov believes that the meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Almaty within the informal meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council has been unsuccessful, Turkish Cihan News Agency reported.

“The agreement was ready, but the Armenian side refused to release the Azerbaijani lands,” Mammadyarov said.

Azerbaijan has agreed to an OSCE Minsk Group proposal to return the Kalbajar and Lachin regions in the course of five years, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said to a press conference in Baku earlier.

The minister said Armenia proposed to return the Kalbajar and Lachin regions in the course of 10 years during Robert Kocharian’s presidency. However, Baku insisted on one year.

“Yerevan reduced the term up to seven years under President Serzh Sargsyan during the initial stages of the negotiations, while Azerbaijan has proposed the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the Kalbajar and Lachin regions in the course of three years,” the minister said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the United States – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.