Progress reached in the Karabakh peace process will positively affect the Armenian-Turkish relations. This is Turkey’s stance on normalization of relations with Armenia, country’s leader Abdullah Gul said in an interview with MK.

The Karabakh is currently the main obstacle to achieving favorable climate in the South Caucasus, he said. Abdullah Gu believes that Turkey’s view on this issue coincides with Russia’s stance.

He stressed that Turkey was ready “to give full support to seek resolution of the problem”.

“We sincerely wish to complete the normalization [relations with Armenia] process successfully. In the process of formation of a stable peace in the South Caucasus and establishment of cooperation and prosperity in the region, the normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian and Turkish-Armenian relations should not be perceived as a separate process, it should be regarded on region-wide basis,” he said.

Back in 1993 during the Karabakh war Turkey closed the border with Armenia in solidarity with Azerbaijan.

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.