Turkey could open its borders to Armenia, Erdoğan says in Azerbaijan

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Dec. 10 his country could open its borders to Armenia, if Yerevan takes steps toward regional peace.

Speaking at a joint news conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Erdoğan said they had no issues with the Armenian people.

"We have no grudge against the people of Armenia. The problem is with the Armenian administration. Over 100,000 Armenians live in my country," he said.

Erdoğan criticized the OSCE Minsk Group for failing to resolve the issue in the face of nearly 30 years of occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia.

At the same time, he praised Russia's role in ending the weeks-long border clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia earlier this year.

He touched upon the French National Assembly's resolution recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as a separate republic.

"Even [Armenian Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan doesn't accept it," he said, adding that French President Emmanuel Macron has "not learned politics yet." 

He said France constantly tried to make contacts with Aliyev during the clashes and also reached out to Turkey, but Ankara did not return the phone calls.

Erdoğan went on to say that the Azerbaijani administration will unleash an era of progress in Karabakh within three to five years.

He said the idea of establishing a six-nation regional bloc was something Russia was also in favor of.

"Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Georgia....Armenia could also be included in this platform," he said.

'Turkey leading by example'

For his part, Aliyev thanked Turkey for the support during clashes with Armenia, adding that two countries enjoy such close and friendly relations.

"President...