PM: "Possible elections in Syria may have no value"

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev yesterday for talks to further bolster bilateral relations, predominantly in economic ties and the natural gas trade, with Azerbaijan.  Speaking at a joint press conference with the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the end of a meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Qabala, Erdogan stressed that "the results of an election to be held under non-credible circumstances in Syria was apparent." "There is presently an atmosphere of a civil war in Syria. The result of a possible Syrian election under the present conditions is clear today," Erdogan noted. "Elections in Syria may have no value unless the country moves into a healthy structure," Erdogan underlined. Erdogan has also talked on Turkey-Armenia border. Turkey will not open its border gates with Armenia unless the country solves its problems with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, he said, adding that they have always made their remarks clear on Armenia during their government and will never take a step to open the Turkey-Armenia border. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the development of relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan was not merely important for the two countries but also crucial for regional stability. Aliyev stressed that relations between the two countries developed in all fields and they had no disagreement on any issue. "In the second meeting we have held today after the first one in Izmir, we had a chance to go over the agreements reached in Izmir and made important talks on various fields," Aliyev noted. "Turkey and Azerbaijan support each other on all issues in the international arena,” Aliyev stressed."Our relations are important for the stability of the region. The roles of both of our countries in the world are on the rise," Aliyev stated. The meeting of the Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, co-chaired by Erdogan and Aliyev, was held in Qabala yesterday. Turkey and Azerbaijan signed eight cooperation agreements in various fields, including energy, transportation, diplomacy, culture and economy there.