Turkey has nothing to do with Karabakh settlement

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey has nothing to do with settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said during parliamentary hearings in Yerevan.



"International practice excludes participation of an interested party in resolution of conflicts. The OSCE Minsk Group proposals make no mention of the Armenian-Turkish border. But time will come and we will raise the issue in the settlement context," the Minister said.



He also reminded that the Kars and Lausanne Treaties have not been renounced and Turkey violates the provisions that determine the border with Armenia. "As to the Armenian Genocide acknowledgement, this state has no right to speak of it. Erdogan's letter to President Kocharian is quite unserious. The academic world this issue is not debated, since the Armenian Genocide was recognized by international scholars irrespective of nationality. How can one speak of the Armenian Genocide in a country which practices an article providing imprisonment for those who dare to mention the 1915 events. Not many in Turkey know that Robert Kocharian responded to Ergodan's proposal and called it inexpedient. However, Turks keep silent pursuing their narrow political and nationalist interests," the Minister said.



"Turkey had 2 chances to normalize relations with Armenia during past 18 years but it failed to take them. In 1991 it failed to sacrifice national interests to strategic. Neither succeeded it in 2003, when the EU accession talks opened," he said.