The vice-speaker of Armenian parliament Eduard Sharmazanov commented on the statement of Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag, who called Nagorno Karabakh a “Turkish land occupied by Armenia.”

“Armenia-Turkey ties won’t be normalized, nor will the border open unless Armenian troops leave Karabakh,” Bozdag said.

As Sharmazanov responded, “not only Artsakh, which is in no way linked to Turkish tribes, but Turkey as well are Armenian lands.”

“Modern Turkey was founded on historic Greek and Armenian territories following extermination of local population,” the vice-speaker stressed.

The Armenian official urged Azerbaijan to withdraw troops from occupied regions of Shahumyan and Getashen, while calling on Turkey to pull out forces from Northern Cyprus.