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Abdullah Gul: â€œRussia has the leading role in the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflictâ€

12 February 2009 12:23 (UTC +04:00)

Alongside with all other factors, Russia is the co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group,â€ Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on the eve of his state visit to Russia, APA reports quoting vesti.ru website.Abdullah Gul said they attached great importance to the trilateral meeting of Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Moscow that resulted in the adoption of the Declaration on the peaceful solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
â€œAny positive improvement in the settlement of Karabakh conflict immediately influences all the countries of the region. Any negative turning point has negative influence on all the players of the region,â€ he said.

Touching on the relations with Armenia Abdullah Gul said Turkey had been seeking ways to normalize relations with that country and was using any opportunity of dialogue. The president mentioned the match of Turkish and Armenian national teams within the framework of the world football championship qualifying.
â€œI went to Armenia and watched the match together with my Armenian counterpart. Following the match, I had a very efficient meeting with President Sarkisian. I am very glad that the dialogue, which began in Yerevan, continues,â€ he said.

Abdullah Gul considers that his visit to Yerevan did not only start the normalization of the relations between Turkey and Armenia, but also will serve the normalization of the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
â€œI want to express my deep gratitude to Russia for doing its best to undo these difficult knots,â€ he said.