Turkey's border with Armenia will stay closed until the occupation of Karabakh ends, Toptan tells Azeri deputies

A group of Azeri women deputies yesterday visited Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan to express concern over reports that relations between Turkey and Armenia might be normalized and the border between the two countries might be opened. "There is a misconception about Turkey's efforts to normalize its relations with Armenia," Toptan told the lawmakers, assuring them that Turkey will not open its border with Armenia before the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is solved. "There are 1 million Azerbaijani people displaced from their homes due to the Armenian occupation of Karabakh," he added. "While this occupation continues and those Azeri people struggle to survive, Turkey opening its border with Armenia is unthinkable." The deputies also met with main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in response to Armenia's occupation of the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. In related news, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan yesterday said, "It seems preconditions for the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia have been met," expressing his country's readiness for this.