YEREVAN. – The Armenian side was hopeful that the border with Turkey – Europe’s last closed border after the Berlin Wall – will be opened without preconditions, Armenia’s Ambassador to Russia Vardan Toghanyan said in an interview with Russia’ Ekho Moskvy.

However, Turkey is raising the issue in the geopolitical context, and the accords signed between Armenia and Turkey back in 2009 have not been debated in the Turkish parliament.

“Armenia has recalled its signature. But the matter is that Turkey links opening of the border with the settlement of Karabakh conflict and believes that the border can be opened only once the conflict is resolved. We believe this to be a policy of diplomatic pressure. These issues cannot be connected, as this will change the architecture of the entire region”.

Toghanyan described the process as “artificially protracted topic” that Turkish diplomats are using for their purposes. However, the Armenian diplomat is confident that once Turkey will realize that good neighborly relations with Armenia are in their interests.

“The ball is in Turkey’s court. We believe that the Turks are the authors of the closed border. We think that Turkey would finally turn to Armenia with a constructive dialogue,” he added.