“Opening the border between Armenia and Turkey will support peace in South Caucasus,” according to radio Liberty said Denis Samouth, the director of the British LINKS non-governmental organization. He believes that opening the borders and developing diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia will contribute to the settlement of Karabakh conflict and development of the two countries. “Armenia and Turkey have outstanding problems, which do not concern the conflict of Karabakh. Developing diplomatic relations and opening the border can be an important and positive development for the entire region and soon or later all the countries of the region will benefit from it,” said the director of the mentioned British NGO. He said that Turkey cannot fully support the settlement of Karabakh conflict unless it develops diplomatic relations with Armenia. Turkey’s initiative for cooperation and peace in the region cannot be success unless the official Ankara does not develop normal diplomatic relations with one of the countries of the region. In addition, the director of the LINKS says that opening the border will enable Armenia not to depend from Russia so much. Denis Samouth petitions the Azeri politicians to accept the fact of opening the Armenian-Turkish border in consideration of the existing realities. On the other hand, he believes that some Armenian politicians are far from the reality too. “They think that Armenia may have normal economic and political relations with Azerbaijan without improvement in the process of Karabakh conflict settlement. It is illogical,” said Denis Samouth.
