“Azerbaijani interests were always important for us. We will never betray Azerbaijan,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in the interview with Azerbaijani agency Trend News.

“We expressed a wish to re-establish relations with Armenia. The normalization talks moved into a very sensitive phase. The protocol guiding the establishment and development of relations between our countries will be sent to the Turkish Parliament next month for ratification. We reached a significant agreement under Swiss mediation and I believe we can send the initialed document to Parliament if we do not face any prejudice and steps are not taken by thinking just about the internal politics. However, I would like to especially explain that — our efforts are not against our brother Azerbaijan. We will not agree upon any step conflicting with Azerbaijani interests. We can approach the agreement but it definitely depends on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement,” Erdogan said.

Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers will meet on October 10 or 11, 2009 to sign the draft document. Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandyan will ink two Protocols, the texts of which had been agreed earlier and internationally hailed as an important breakthrough, Erdogan added.

Speaking of Karabakh conflict settlement prospects Turkish Premier outlined: “I think it would be easier if the OSCE Minsk Group — tasked to find a solution to the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh — took more active measures. U.S. as the co-chair of MG must follow its duties. I told Mr. Obama that if it is solved that it will turn on the greenlights for regional cooperation, including our relationship with Armenia. There was need for dialogue that would bring together regional countries, referring to Turkey's proposal of a stability and cooperation platform in the Caucasus. Turkey aimed to make the region a basin of peace and wanted to solve Azerbaijan-Armenia, Turkey-Armenia and Russia-Georgia problems through this platform.”