Turkey says time is running out for a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Turkey supports today’s close relations with Azerbaijan and hopes to change the position of Armenia regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as the issue of the tragic events in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, Turkish participants of the 12th session of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Hakan Altynay and Huseyin Bagdzhi, said in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza.

The President of the World Academy of citizenship, Hakan Altynay, expressed his confidence in the inviolability of Turkish-Azerbaijani relations. "Our relations with Azerbaijan are not just close. Sometimes our leaders say: ‘‘Two states and one nation.’’ We have a lot in common: culture, our languages ​​are very similar, as well as the economy. Above all, I mean cooperation in the energy sector. I have no doubts that our relations will be strengthened,’’ he said.

However, he expressed hope that Armenia will find the political will to find common grounds on the issues that divide the two republics today.

Also, the president of the World Academy of Citizenship stressed there is less and less time to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in a peaceful way. "A vicious circle has already been formed, but now need to take a step forward and get out of it. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the parties to the conflict believe that time is on their side. Azerbaijan is becoming richer and more powerful, so I am sure that the advantage is on the Azerbaijani side.’’

"Unfortunately, such frozen conflicts are delayed-action bombs. No one knows when the Karabakh bomb can explode, it can happen in the near future. We have to solve these problems if we can do it,’’ Hakan Altynay said.

Professor at the ODTU University Huseyin Huseyin Bagdzhi emphasized first of all that Turkey has always supported and will continue to support Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. "Azerbaijan is a very important partner for Turkey. All ties with Armenia are frozen because of Karabakh. We made attempts in 2009-2011 to revive Turkish-Armenian relations, but we didn’t succeed in it. Contacts between the two countries won’t be normalized without a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,’’ he said.

The professor believes that the primary role of mediator in the conflict belongs to Russia. "These negotiations should be supported by Russia in order to resolve the Karabakh problem. Unfortunately, neither the OSCE Minsk Group, nor even the United Nations have been able to solve this problem,’’ Hüseyin Bagdzhi concluded.