Settlement on Nagorno Karabakh is not enough for Ankara to open border with Armenia

Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders are due to meet in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 9 to talk on the basic principles of the settlement on Nagorno Karabakh, which if successful will force Turkey to open its border with Armenia.

While encouraging Baku to find a solution to the Nagorno Karabakh problem through negotiations, Turkey does not expect any promising step to come out of the meeting and does not find it adequate to open the border that it closed in 1993 in response to the Armenian invasion of Nagorno Karabakh.

"The settlement may help normalization but this would not be sufficient in itself," a well-placed Turkish diplomat told the Turkish Daily News yesterday. Turkey additionally insists on Armenia giving up claims of an alleged genocide, and dropping claims on Turkey's lands.

"If they agree on the settlement, then Turkey has to give an award by opening its border which was closed in 1993," said Omer Luthem, retired ambassador and chairman of the institute for Armenian Research at ASAM.

A peaceful solution to Nagorno Karabakh is one of the preconditions set by Ankara for establishing diplomatic relations with Yerevan.

The presence of Armenian President Robert Kocharian in St. Petersburg is definite while Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is expected to declare his decision soon. The two leaders will continue talks on the basic principles of the settlement under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States.

Status of Karabakh is a barrier to a settlement

If the two leaders can agree on the status of Nagorno Karabakh, the withdrawal of Armenian forces from seven nearby regions around Nagorno Karabakh is expected to be resolved easily, said Omer Luthem.

However diplomatic sources based in Ankara do not expect a swift solution pointing to other problems such as the timing of withdrawal of Armenian forces from seven regions, the corridor problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the timing of the referendum and the return of refugees and so on.

Baku and Ankara in touch before the meeting

Turkey is encouraging Baku to find a solution through negotiations but is not optimistic about the St. Petersburg meeting.

Close allies, Ankara and Baku continue consultations prior to the meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders in St. Petersburg on June 9 and Turkey is supporting a solution through negotiations, said the diplomat noting that Turkey is also a member of OSCE.

The Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the OSCE to bring about a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which broke out in 1988 due to Armenia's territorial claims in Azerbaijan. Turkish Daily News