Turkey not only places importance on Armenia, but also on maintaining stability throughout the Caucasus, Turkish President Abdullah Gül told a joint press conference with his Macedonoian counterpart.

He stressed the importance of normalizing Armenian-Russian and Russian-Georgian relations. Noting that this was the beginning of a new era in the Caucasus, and that issues that had been neglected for years were now being dealt with at the highest level, Gül stated; "I hope that we will witness positive developments on all of the region's issues," Turkish Sabah reports.