Turkey to develop Nakhichevan

Turkey will not open its border and develop commercial relations with Armenia unless a solution to the Karabakh problem is found, Turkey's foreign trade minister said on Tuesday, World Bulletin reports.

Zafer Caglayan, who is in Nakhichevan for talks, said that Nakhichevan was really important for both Azerbaijan and Turkey.

"That's why we have to develop Nakhichevan," Caglayan said. "We will do it with the help of trade. We will sign deals. The size of our trade with Azerbaijan is around $2 billion but this is not enough. We have to make it $5 billion."

On opening of Turkey's border with Armenia, Caglayan said, "our commercial relations cannot develop and the border cannot open unless the Karabakh problem is resolved. Our president and prime minister
have made it clear. And now, I am repeating it here. We will neither do business with Armenia nor open the border unless Armenians withdraw from the territory they occupied."