Caucasus: Turkish leader proposes tripartite talks on Karabakh

During talks in Baku on 8 January with Azerbaijani parliament speaker Murtuz Alesqerov, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, suggested that tripartite talks involving Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan could help reach a solution to the Karabakh conflict, according to Trend news agency, as cited by Groong. Also on 8 January, Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis told journalists in Baku that Ankara does not intend to open its borders with Armenia, according to ANS Radio, as cited by Groong. Yakis said Armenia should drop its territorial claims on Turkey and its demand that Turkey acknowledge the 1915 genocide. LF