IF ANKARA WANTS TO BE GEOPOLITICAL LEADER IN CAUCASUS IT MUST TRY TO SETTLE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT, SULEYMAN DEMIREL

Ankara, April 11 (AzerTAc). If official Ankara wants to be a geopolitical leader in Caucasus it must try to settle the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, said former Turkish president Suleyman Demirel.
In an interview with Turkish “Milliyet” daily, Demirel said “the only reason for long years of the Turkish-Armenian border closure has been Armenia`s holding Azerbaijan`s territories under occupation”.
“This is why the Armenian issue must be strongly focused on.”
The former president said opening borders with Armenia will only add to official Ankara`s problems.
“Opening the borders is not the only way to prevent recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide by the US Congress.”
“We recognized Armenia`s independence, but Armenia does not recognize Turkey`s borders, and Armenians, who are hiding under the flag of the so-called genocide, killed 40 Turkish diplomats abroad so far.”
“If Armenia wants the borders to be opened it must liberate the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” said the former Turkish leader.
Turkey closed its borders with Armenia in 1993 during Suleyman Demirel’s presidency.