Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan touched upon the Karabakh peace process and Russia’s role in it in his speech at Moscow’s State Institute of International Relations.

He noted resolution of the conflict will play a certain role in normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

Speaking about the Sochi meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders held through Russian president’s mediation, Erdogan called Dmitry Medvedev’s initiative to hold negotiations an important one.  

Erdogan stressed Turkey-Russia cooperation will create conditions for development and prosperity in the region.

Nowadays one cannot achieve any goals through terror, Turkish Premier stressed, adding there can be no such notion as “Islamic terrorism”, as Islam is a peaceful religion.

In October 2009 Armenia and Turkey signed protocols in Zurich to normalize diplomatic relations between the states. The documents had to be ratified in both countries’ parliaments. However, in 2010 the Armenian president suspended the process due to Turkey’s non-constructive stance. Ankara set preconditions and linked the reconciliation process to resolution of the Karabakh conflict.