Turkish Foreign Minister Attacks Armenia, Threatens US over Genocide Recognition

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday that Armenia is the cause of problems in the South Caucuses, as Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reports.

“Despite Turkey’s repeatedly holding out the hand of friendship to the Armenians, the country’s authorities keep rejecting the offer,” Cavusoglu said.
“So far, Armenia has done nothing to bring about the Karabakh conflict settlement. Seeing as Yerevan has problems with all neighboring countries, Armenia must reconsider its foreign policy,” Cavusoglu said.

Cavusoglu also said that Ankara hopes for an unchanged position from U.S. authorities regarding the Armenian Genocide, otherwise relations between Washington and Ankara may deteriorate.

Cavusoglu says on April 24 the U.S. President Barack Obama will repeat his usual statement, without using the word “genocide.”

In late February, the Turkish Foreign Minister reiterated conditions Ankara set forth for normalization of ties with Armenia. Namely, the ceding of Artsakh to Azerbaijan.