The Turkish leaders intend to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh problem with RF President Dmitry Medvedev during his visit to Ankara scheduled for this May, stated Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

He pointed out that the Turkish views the problem as its own, and it will remain on the agenda. Turkey is against the status quo being preserved in the Caucasus, Davutoglu said. He pointed out that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict being unsettled is not in the region’s interests.

The Turkish FM outlines the immediate aims Turkey has set itself. Among them are reconciliation with Armenia, settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, re-opening of the Armenian-Azerbaijani and Armenian-Turkish borders. Turks and Armenians have lived together for centuries and wherever they meet they will learn to share their pain and common history and will be living together. This is a peaceful future for the two peoples, Davutoglu said.

It should be noted Turkey has repeatedly stated that the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a vital prerequisite for its normalization of relations with Armenia. It was official Anakra’s destructive position, including its linking the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, that forced Armenia’s ruling coalition to remove the Armenian-Turkish protocols from the RA Parliament’s agenda. RA President Serzh Sargsyan addressed the nation and announced the suspension of the ratification process.

T.P.