Turkey will risk reversing its unprecedented rapprochement with Armenia if it persists in linking the process with a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict desired by Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian has said. In an interview with RFE/RL, he also sought to cool talk of an imminent Karabakh settlement.
The leader of the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has welcomed the latest efforts by the international community aimed at promoting dialogue and providing a better environment for negotiations on the deadlocked Karabakh conflict. But Bako Sahakian described the current format of the peace talks as flawed and called for restoring the region's status as a full-fledged participant in the peace process.
![“Had there been preconditions, we would not have started this process [of rapprochement with Turkey] and reached agreements in the first place," Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian (in a screen grab) told RFE/RL's Armenian Service.](https://gdb.rferl.org/675070f3-05dc-4e05-b1dd-7f258a0033e7_w100_r1.jpg)
![“Had there been preconditions, we would not have started this process [of rapprochement with Turkey] and reached agreements in the first place," Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian (in a screen grab) told RFE/RL's Armenian Service.](https://gdb.rferl.org/675070f3-05dc-4e05-b1dd-7f258a0033e7_w66_r1.jpg)
