Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia in weekend talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as Ankara seeks to normalize its ties with Yerevan without alienating Azerbaijan.
"Turkey and Russia have responsibilities in the region. We have to take steps for the peace and wellbeing of the region," Erdoğan said at a joint news conference with Putin in Sochi on Saturday. "This includes the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, the Middle East dispute, the Cyprus problem," he added.
Russia is one of the three countries leading international efforts for resolution of the territorial problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, as well as Azerbaijani regions adjacent to it have been under Armenian occupation since the early 1990s. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan in 1993, but is now in talks with Yerevan to restore ties. In an effort to ease growing concerns in Azerbaijan over Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, Erdoğan visited Baku last week, giving firm assurances that the closed border would not be opened unless Armenia withdraws from Nagorno-Karabakh. The statement has raised questions in Turkey as to whether this means a policy change in the reconciliation efforts with Armenia and has elicited a reaction from Yerevan, which said Erdoğan should not interfere in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, which Armenia insists is not linked with the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process.
Erdoğan has also been urging Russia, as well as the United States and France, which co-chair the so-called Minsk Group, to step up efforts for settlement. Putin said, "Russia and Turkey seek for such problems to be resolved and will facilitate this in every possible way," but emphasized that a compromise on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem should be found by the participants in the conflict themselves. "As for difficult problems from the past -- and the Karabakh problem is among such issues -- a compromise should be found by the participants in the conflict. Other states which help reach a compromise in this aspect can play a role of mediators and guarantors to implement the signed agreements," Putin said.
Gas deal, second pipeline
Putin and Erdoğan also agreed to work on extending a gas supply deal and discussed switching to payments in their national currencies. Russia is Turkey»s largest trading partner, while Turkey is the fifth-largest trading partner for Russia.
"The agreement on gas supplies through the so-called Western route signed in 1986 is expiring in 2012. We have agreed today to immediately start work to prolong this agreement," Erdoğan said at the news conference, referring to gas supplied through Bulgaria.
Erdoğan said Russia and Turkey would also continue work on their Blue Stream pipeline project, which supplies just under half of Russian gas to Turkey. Putin said construction of a second Blue Stream gas pipeline has become a priority for both countries.
Erdoğan also said Turkey would announce "within days" the results of the tender to build a nuclear power station in Turkey in which Russian firm Atomstroyexport is the sole bidder.