ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that closure of Turkish-Armenian border was related to Upper Karabakh, "Turkey will not open its border gates with Armenia unless this problem is solved," he added.
Erdogan responded to questions of journalists prior to his departure for Russian Federation.
When a journalist said, "during your visit to Azerbaijan, you said Turkey would not open border with Armenia unless Upper Karabakh problem is solved. Armenian President said Turkey`s intervening in Upper Karabakh would not bring peace there," Erdogan said, "being a regional country, it is regardless of question for Turkey to remain silent on Upper Karabakh matter. Turkey closed borders with Armenia as a result of interventions there."
Commenting on Nabucco, Erdogan said the project has 6 partners and Turkey was one of them. He said Turkey was not a supplier country, but a transit country.
Erdogan said European Union (EU) and European Commission member countries should speed up infrastructure works with the related countries to procure fund.
Erdogan said, "infrastructure works should start quickly. European Commission should make a decision for this and accelerate the process. Turkey is ready to fulfill its obligations."