Turkish PM Erdogan, U.S. President Obama discuss Azerbaijan-Armenia relations

09:21

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he doesn't not see any problems in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"At today's talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, I said that the OSCE Minsk Group should resolve the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, and after that we should normalize our relations with Armenia," Erdogan said.

The Prime Minister also noted that there are various UN resolutions on this conflict, and until the Karabakh problem is solved, it would be difficult for Turkey to solve the problems with the Armenia.

Erdogan also noted that the document on the normalization of relations with Armenia had already been submitted to the Turkish parliament.

"The government can in no way influence this process. It is not in our power to influence the debate in a parliamentary committee. Unlike the government of Armenia, we do not lie. We keep our promises. When we signed a protocol with Armenia, there were not any conditions. However, in our Parliament the adoption of this document requires conditions. To resolve this issue only through a political will is not enough. For the Turkish Parliament, this issue is very sensitive," he said.

Despite this, the Turkish prime minister pointed to the ways out.

"If the Minsk Group accelerates the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as quickly as possible, we can resolve our relations with Armenia,"said the Turkish PM.

Erdogan also said that he brought to the attention of President Obama Azerbaijan's position.

The prime minister also noted that he discussed with U.S. President the Iranian nuclear program, Iraq, Nabucco, Cyprus, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Afghanistan.

Speaking of Nabucco, Erdogan said that many people mistakenly believe that the main part of the natural gas for this project will come from Azerbaijan.

"Actually it is not. Now Azerbaijan is expected to provide 10 percent of that gas. In the future this figure is projected to reach 25 percent.

Turkish prime minister also said that Ankara is ready to play the role of moderator between the U.S. and Iran.

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09:19

Normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations is connected with the Azerbaijani-Armenian negotiations, said the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at press conference after the meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, CNN Turk reported.

According to Erdogan, U.S. and Turkish leaders discussed relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"This is important in the context of relations between Turkey and Armenia" he said.

Erdogan said that at the meeting they discussed the Armenian-Azerbaijani talks in the framework of OSCE Minsk Group.

/Trend News/