MOSCOW, May 4 (RIA Novosti) - Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a brief working visit to Russia
on May 16, the Russian government announced on Monday.
Turkish media said Turkey's relations with Armenia and the
ex-Soviet republic's dispute with Ankara's ally Azerbaijan over
Nagorny Karabakh would dominate the visit to Russia, a mediator
in the long-running feud.
Turkey and Armenia, which have had no diplomatic ties
since the Soviet Union split up in 1991, agreed to a "roadmap"
under Swiss mediation in April in a bid to normalize their
relations.
Erdogan, however, was reported to have later reiterated
that Turkey would not open its border with Armenia, closed in
1993 in a show of support for Azerbaijan, until the Nagorny
Karabakh dispute has been resolved.
Ankara has also said Yerevan should drop its campaign to
have the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915
internationally recognized as genocide. Armenia says an
estimated 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered at the end of
the Ottoman Empire.
The Russian government said the visit would take place
following an invitation from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin.
Diplomats in Ankara said Erdogan and Putin would also
discuss bilateral trade and cooperation in the energy sphere,
including Russia's bid in a tender to build a nuclear power
plant in Turkey.
News
