TODAY.AZ / Politics

Turkish diplomat: Nagorno-Karabakh’s de-occupation first pre-condition to set up ties with Yerevan

16 December 2019 [14:19] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Withdrawal of Armenian troops from occupied Azerbaijani lands is the first precondition for Turkey’s normalization of ties with Yerevan, press attache of the Turkish Embassy in Azerbaijan Huseyin Altinalan has said.

"As you know, at present, the historical Azerbaijani lands - Nagorno Karabakh and the adjacent regions - are under the Armenian occupation. First of all, Armenia should unconditionally withdraw from the occupied Azerbaijani lands," Altinalan stated.

The second requirement is that Armenia renounces its claims against Turkish lands.

"As you know, the modern borders of Turkey and Armenia were established in 1921 as part of the Moscow and Kars agreements, and in this regard, all the territorial claims of Armenia to Turkey are groundless and absurd," Altinalan underlined.

Altinalan noted that in 1991, when Armenia gained independence, Turkey wanted to start diplomatic relations with this country, but the first step was the solution of existing problems with Armenia, which Ankara always emphasized.

Regarding the so-called "Armenian genocide", Altynalan noticed that Armenia impedes the opening of its archives and rejects this idea, despite appeals of Ankara to create a commission of historians to investigate the events.

"The claims of the Armenians regarding the events of 1915 have no documentary evidence or legal basis and these claims are unacceptable," he stressed. He urged Armenia not to politicize historical events.

Altynalan pointed out that the recognition of the events of 1915 as the "Armenian genocide", the payment of compensation to the descendants of deported Armenians, as well as the restitution of property to the deceased's heirs as required by the Armenian side are claims that have no legal force.

"Turkey is not a party to any international agreement on the payment of compensation to deportees. Turkey is not ashamed of its history, since we have nothing to be ashamed of, and our conscience is clean," he concluded.

On March 1, 2018, Armenia announced the annulment of the protocols on the normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations.

The protocols on normalization of relations between the two countries were signed by the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia on October 10, 2009, but have not been ratified.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/189244.html

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