Armenian Minister Says Turkey Impeding Progress

YEREVAN -- Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian has accused Turkey of jeopardizing talks between the two countries after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Nagorno-Karabakh remains an obstacle to a “healthy solution.”

Nalbandian stated on April 5 that Armenia is not obligated to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict before talking to Turkey, and that Erdogan’s remarks “may be regarded as an attempt to impede the progress reached in the negotiations,” RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

Nalbandian arrives in Istanbul on April 7 for the UN Alliance of Civilizations summit, where he is expected to meet his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, to discuss establishing diplomatic relations and the reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev reportedly pulled out of the UN summit to protest any improvement in Armenian-Turkish relations.