Baku-Yerevan dialogue will help normalization, Babacan

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

"The normalisation of Turkish-Armenian relations would have a positive impact on the Azerbaijan-Armenia talks over Nagorno-Karabakh," Ali Babacan told reporters after a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Memmedyarov, in Baku.

The dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan has intensified through the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe’s, or OSCE, Minsk process, Babacan added. "The fact that parts of Azerbaijani territory are under Armenian occupation is a problem that needs to be urgently addressed. Turkey, one of 11 members of the Minsk group, attaches great importance to the process," he said and added he hoped recent diplomatic traffic would yield results soon.

Caucasus platform proposal
Babacan's visit came amid a push by Turkey for more influence in the volatile Caucasus region, where Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August. After the conflict, Ankara proposed the creation of a new forum for cooperation in the region, for which Babacan called on regional governments to support. "All the countries of the region must sit at the bargaining table," he said.

Before his departure for Azerbaijan late Sunday, Babacan told reporters he would meet his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts in Helsinki at an OSCE meeting this week.

"There is an ongoing process between Azerbaijan and Armenia and there is also a parallel process between Turkey and Armenia," Babacan was quoted by the Anatolia News Agency as saying. "Following the OSCE meeting, I will have separate meetings with the two ministers."

Babacan is expected to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts. Babacan also said there had been no date set for a tripartite meeting of the ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

NATO meeting
The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims over Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994 Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time active hostilities ended. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and their border has been closed for more than a decade over Armenian aggression toward Azerbaijan.

After Baku, Babacan will proceed to Brussels for the NATO foreign ministers meeting.