"I want to remind you that several years ago we all witnessed resentment of President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev over the expansion of Turkish-Armenian relations. At that time a group of business people of Turkey announced that Armenia is a good and perspective market for Turkish goods and services and there is a need to normalize Turkish-Armenian relations. And only after Heydar Aliyev left for Turkey, where he met with the country's leadership and spoke before the Turkish parliament, it became possible to stop talks about possible opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, deepening of ties between Turkey and Armenia. But the very fact of such feeling in Turkey proved existence of people, who spoke for normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations," Rasim Aghayev said.

"It seems that this attitude of mind got support from outside and in this connection it should be reminded that this very government held a meeting, condemning the murder of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. All this means that the incumbent leadership of Turkey is ready to undertake steps for normalization of relations with Armenia."

Aghayev wondered whether Turkey can agree to exchange Nagorno Karabakh for Armenia's rejection of the wordwide campaign for recognition of the Armenian Genocide. "I think Turkish leadership can do it. But this will be Turkey's mistake, as concessions in Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be immediately entail concessions in the genocide issue, what implies compensations to the victims of the genocide and Armenia's territorial claims," he said, Day.az reports.

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday appeared to confirm a report in the Turkish media that Turkish and Armenian officials had secret talks in Switzerland earlier this month. The report in the Hurriyet daily said the officials met for a few days starting on July 8 and that a senior Foreign Ministry official headed the Turkish delegation.

"Such talks are held from time to time," Babacan told reporters.