Turkish FM Davutoglu to visit Yerevan amid media-stirred rumors

According to Sabah, “Yerevan already pledged to “cede 2 liberated regions to Azerbaijan,” however Ankara demanded a written statement confirming the move.

“Should Armenia announce its decision, Davutoglu will visit Yerevan December 12,” the daily said.

The daily further claimed that Armenian forces will “cede 2 out of 7 Karabakh-adjacent regions in exchange for normalizing ties with Azerbaijan and Turkey.” The daily, however, failed to specify what was meant by “normalizing.”

Also as Today's Zaman reported in November, citing own sources, during a visit to Switzerland in mid-October, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Swiss officials that Turkey is ready to normalize its relations with Armenia if the latter ‘withdraws from Karabakh’.

The Swiss officials responded positively to Davutoglu's proposal, according to the sources.

Davutoğlu pointed out that relations with Armenia “are important for Turkey, which is trying to find new ideas and solutions to the existing problems”. He hinted that “Turkey will increase its studies for better relations with its neighbor in the coming days,” the sources said.

Turkey is particularly aiming to normalize relations with Armenia before 2015, the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, Today’s Zaman quoted Foreign Ministry sources as saying.

A senior Turkish official told Today's Zaman that Turkey closed its borders with Armenia “not because of Nagorno Karabakh but because of the adjacent territories.”

Azerbaijan said “it would not oppose Turkey opening its border with Armenia if Yerevan leaves five of the seven adjacent regions,” according to the official, who also said that Yerevan “accepted the condition.”

Later, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman refused to comment on the Today's Zaman report: “Absurd reports from absurd sources needn’t be commented on,” Tigran Balayan said.