November 25, 2008 - 14:51 AMT
Aybars Gorgulu: Turkey could do much for Karabakh conflict resolution
Turkey supports Azerbaijan because it thinks that Armenia violated the norms of the international law, a Turkish expert said.

"Turkey closed the border with Armenia in 1993 in response to its aggression against Azerbaijan and obliged to open it after Azerbaijan and Armenia seal a peace agreement," Aybars Gorgulu, expert at Sabanci University and Assistant Program Director of TESEV Foreign Policy Program said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

Turkey could do much for resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, according to him.

"The closed border caused polarization of forces in the region with Turkey, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia on the one hand and Russia, Iran and Armenia on the other. Instability in the Caucasus, especially after the South Ossetian war, gave Turkey the idea of the Caucasus Platform, which received a positive feedback from the international community. Reverting to the opening of borders, both sides will benefit from it. The current $300-million commodity turnover between Armenia and Turkey will considerably increase and replenish the state budget," Gorgulu said.

  • Full text of the interview