
Azerbaijan has criticised an agreement between
Turkey and Armenia, saying it raises doubts about regional
stability.
The Azerbaijani foreign ministry said Turkey should not have
normalised ties without a deal over the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
During the war there in 1993, Turkey closed its border with
Armenia out of solidarity for Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan's government wants Armenia to withdraw troops from
Nagorno-Karabach and return land.
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Turkey and Armenia signed a historic accord on Saturday, paving
the way for the opening of their shared border.
Gritted teeth
On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the
opening of his country's border with Armenia would be tied to
progress on the disputed region.
"We want all the borders to be opened at the same time," Mr
Erdogan was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
"But as long as Armenia has not withdrawn from Azerbaijani
territory that it is occupying, Turkey cannot have a positive
attitude on this subject."
BBC South Caucasus correspondent Tom Esslemont says the
rapprochement between Azerbaijan's best friend and most bitter
rival was never going to be plain sailing in Baku.
On Friday, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry spokesman told the
BBC there was a chance that the Turkish-Armenian protocols might
never be ratified by Turkey's parliament and that he could not
comment until they had.
But a foreign ministry statement, circulated to Azerbaijan's
media after the agreement was signed on Saturday, said the move to
open the borders would "call into question the regional peace and
security architecture".
A timetable for normalising relations between Turkey and Armenia
was agreed in April, after a century of hostility between the two
neighbours.