“There are great expectations from OSCE Minsk Group for Armenia-Turkey border opening,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in an interview with Turkish TRT-1 TV.

He said he has appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Premier Vladimir Putin, but has not yet managed to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

“The OSCE Minsk Group has major deficiencies. No progress in the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh problem has been made. If Russia, U.S. and France had shown a serious approach during this period, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia would not have current problems. They should have said ‘it will be so.’ Armenia occupied territories and the UN proved it. No problem will arise after the occupation ends. However, U.S., Russia and France straddled the fence. April is coming near. We told them: ‘Our Parliament is just as yours.’ We will not exert any pressure on the legislative body. Whatever decision is made, we will act accordingly,” Erdogan outlined.

The Turkish Premier stated that Ankara introduced the documents before Parliament without any amendments, whereas Armenia submitted them after Constitutional Court’s decision on the Protocols, which will add complications in the ratification process. Erdogan also said he had met with a group of illegal Armenian immigrants in Turkey. According to him, only 70,000 of 170,000 Armenians living in Turkey are Turkish citizens. “We are ignoring the fact, as we do not wish to have more obstacles.”

“It proves they face problems in their country if they come to ours. We cannot promise them anything until a legal enactment is available. We have not so far seen any reciprocal steps on the part of Yerevan. We reopened an air corridor, restored the church on Akhtamar Island and are hosting so many illegal immigrants. There are a great many issues of this kind, but nobody is speaking of it,” Erdogan said.

L.A.