Pierre Lellouche: Turks have everything to gain by opening border with ArmeniaJuly 15, 2010 - 18:43 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - French Minister for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche said that the Karabakh conflict resolution is mainly stalled by internal politics. “And we encourage the press, and local politicians – on one hand the Turkish side and on the other the Armenian side. We very much supported President Gul’s football diplomacy with Armenia. We saw, there was an agreement. Then, sadly, the agreement was not ratified. We very much want these countries to reach a solution through negotiation. It’s the same for Azerbaijan, which has a real economic potential. They must admit there are refugees, and find solutions,” the French Minister for European Affairs said. Answering the question if Turkey’s efforts can help resolve this situation, Pierre Lellouche said: “I have been asking them to open the land frontier for a long time. You know that the air frontier is open. And the Turks have everything to gain by opening the border with Armenia, by not cutting this country off. So I hope that Turkey will do this, but of course it’s difficult, when many refugees remain in Azerbaijan, and they have religious and ethnic affinities with them,” Euronews reported. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |