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Head of Igdir Trade Exchange Ismayil Aras: Alican border checkpoint may be reopened only after the Armenians release the occupied Azerbaijani territories

03 September 2009 09:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vugar Masimoglu â€“ APA. â€œAlican border checkpoint on Turkey-Armenia border may be reopened only after the Armenians release the occupied Azerbaijani territories,â€ head of Igdir Trade Exchange Ismayil Aras told APA exclusively. He said they wanted economic growth in the region.
â€œWe do not deny that the reopening of the borders with Armenia will bring us profit. But we can not ignore the interests of Azerbaijan. I am following Azerbaijani media, we can come to the conclusion that Turkey informed Azerbaijan about the ongoing processes. But Armenian President Sargsyanâ€™s statements worry us. We stated several times â€“ economic growth is important. But economic growth should not be achieved at the cost of the loss of land. We reiterate â€“ we are against the reopening the border with Armenia unless Nagorno Karabakh problem is solved,â€ he said.

Ismayil Aras said everybody in the region is following Turkey-Armenia rapprochement.
â€œLike Azerbaijan, we can not give up Karabakh either. This conflict must be solved. We will not protest after all the problems are seriously solved and Azerbaijan gives consent. It is obvious that those who pursued hostile policy profited nothing, they live in poverty in Armenia. We will continue following the processes,â€ he said.