March 26, 2004 - 19:11 AMT
VARDAN OSKANIAN: ANKARA SHOULD BECOME PENSIVE OVER ILHAM ALIYEV'S WORDS
Official Ankara should make corresponding conclusions out of the statements of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, who considers Ankara to be "an instrument in his hands" that can be used against Armenia, RA FM Vardan Oskanian stated when commenting on Aliyev's statement that "opening the borders with Armenia makes the settlement of the Karabakh conflict impossible, as Azerbaijan in this case will lose a key instrument to force Armenia to resolve the conflict peacefully". "For an influential state as Turkey such statements made by the leader of a neighbor country should be inadmissible", Oskanian emphasized. As for position of official Yerevan, in the minister's words, the improvement of the Turkish-Armenian relations will exert a positive influence upon the situation in the region, and the settlement of the Karabakh problem, in part.