Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said today that a deal with Armenia on their common border would have to wait until Armenia and Azerbaijan resolve a festering dispute over an enclave in the Caucasus mountains, according to Reuters. With signs of a thaw in ties between Turkey and Armenia after a century of hostility, Turkish media have speculated that Ankara could reopen the border, closed by Turkey in 1993. The media have speculated that Turkey might announce the breakthrough in normalising ties with Armenia to coincide with the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama, to Turkey from April 5 to 7. But Erdogan, asked about the issue on Friday, appeared to pour cold water on an imminent border deal. "We cannot take the final step unless the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is resolved," he told a news conference in London. "It is clear that we are taking steps to prepare the ground for the final step but first the problem between Armenia and Azerbaijan should reach a solution... America, Russia and France should speed up this process ... and make our job easier."
