A large unframed color photograph of Armenian President Levon Ter Petrossian and ousted Azerbaijani leader Abulfaz Elchibey is prominently displayed in the Foreign Ministry office of the top Turkish diplomat most closely involved with the nation's "problematic" neighbors.
The photo was taken during the funeral of the late Turkish President Turgut Ozal, after which Ter Petrossian and Elchibey discussed the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. But all that was in April 1993.
"That meeting was a good opportunity and progress could have been made to resolve the conflict, but things did not work out that way," Candan Azer (pronounced Jandan ) said in a recent interview.
Azer, a career diplomat who holds the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary, is a Deputy Director General for relations with the Caucasian countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Like other Turkish diplomats, politicians, bankers, businessmen, educators, journalists, and economists interviewed in Ankara and Istanbul, Azer says Armenia can only blame itself for its predicament.
"There is an obsession in Armenia with territory. If Armenia continues along this path, then one day Azerbaijan will eventually pull its act together and impose a military solution to the conflict. If that happens, both Armenia and Azerbaijan will suffer. As for us in Turkey, we don't care ... we are comfortable," Azer said during an hour-long interview, the first granted to an Armenian-American journalist in recent years.
Azer, defending Turkey's de-facto blockade of Armenia, said he saw little chance of any change in the coming months. "We have sent adequate aid to Armenia through Turkey despite popular anger and criticism from Parliament."
"We have risked a lot on the home front by allowing the passage of humanitarian aid to Armenia. Now our hands are tied because there is very strong public sentiment against helping Armenia at a time when Azerbaijan is under attack. We cannot do more," he said.
Turkey partially opened its borders after the 1988 earthquake for relief supplies to reach Armenia, which was then part of the Soviet Union. In recent years, and particularly after the escalating conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, these supply routes through Turkey have been closed except for the occasional trickle of U.S. and European-donated food and medical supplies - and only after considerable diplomatic pressure and a meticulous search of cargo.
It was not uncommon for large shipments of powdered milk to get stranded on the Turkish-Armenian border for months while officials searched the cargo for weapons.
Planes carrying relief supplies from the United States were on more than one occasion forced to land in Turkey for "inspection" and denied fuel on their way back from Armenia triggering protests from Washington.
Turkey has justified the searches as not only legal under the terms of international agreements, but also essential to prevent the flow of military hardware into the battle zone.
"We have every right to search cargo crossing our territory into Armenia. The search is mandated by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) .and we are only abiding by their resolutions," he said.
Wasn't Turkey being too harsh with Armenia?
Azer says no.
"We have risked a lot on the home front by helping Armenia through humanitarian aid. We will open the roads and allow the flow of supplies into Armenia, but first, this war in Nagorno Karabakh should end. The Armenians should withdraw from Kelbajar," he said.
Since the interview, the Armenian forces of Nagorno Karabakh have captured more territory. Authorities in Nagorno Karabakh feel their actions are justified in the absence of international guarantees to safeguard the enclave's Armenian population.
While Turkey boasts of being the first country to recognize Armenian independence, in effect it also blames Yerevan for the hold-up in the exchange of diplomats and the opening of embassies.
Azer said the draft protocol for the establishment of diplomatic relations was "95 percent ready", but no action could be taken by Ankara before the Nagorno Karabakh issue is resolved.
How does Turkey see a solution to the conflict?
"Nagorno Karabakh is Azeri territory. Historically, Nagorno Karabakh is not Armenian, and even Yerevan was a fiefdom of Azerbaijan at one time," he explains emphatically.
But how about self-determination?
Azer shrugs off that concept too - maybe because it is one of those sensitive issues closely linked to the Kurdish struggle in Turkey.
"What does self-determination mean... if every minority in the world is going to demand this? To whom does the United States belong ... should the native Indians have a state of their own? How about the millions of Turks in Germany?," he asked.
Interviews are best if kept in the inquisitive rather than argumentative, so the next question was:
How does Turkey see a solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and will that help improve its own relations with Armenia?
Azer admits the Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh should have a say in running the enclave, but not outside the framework of Azerbaijan proper.
"The Armenians should put away their obsession with land and territory. Land does not matter. Nagorno Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory and will remain so. The rights of the Armenian population are important, but the Armenians can do that by dropping their weapons and accepting the fact that they are Azerbaijani citizens with adequate representation in the Azerbaijani parliament."
"The Armenians should withdraw from the occupied territories and this should be followed by confidence-building steps. It is only after the withdrawal and disarmament, that Armenian grievances can be negotiated," Azer said.
And for Turkish relations with Armenia?
"We have lived without Armenia for many years, and we can live without Armenia for many more, but we don't want to. We want Armenia to be an independent, prosperous and friendly neighbor, but first this bloodshed must stop," he said.
Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, agreed Turkey had a vested interest in improving relations with Armenia, but was not ready or willing to pay the price.
"Look at Turkey's neighbors and see if it has any friends. It's relations with Iran, Iraq and Syria are poor to say the least. It's ties with Georgia are just as weak, and it has no ties with Armenia. That leaves Bulgaria, and what does that mean ... nothing. From a geographical perspective, normal relations with Armenia are advantageous for Turkey, but the government in Ankara cannot do anything until it demonstrates to the people that the Nagorno Karabakh problem is out of the way," an Ankara-based Western diplomat said.
"Turkish public opinion is in favor of an active military role in support of Azerbaijan, but this is not on the Turkish government's agenda," he added.
That much for the diplomatic perspective, but do businessmen see things differently?
If the man who tried to enter into a partnership with an Armenian to expand the port of Trabizon and build a land corridor from the Black Sea to Armenia is any reflection of the mood outside the government, the picture is not any different.
Ishak Alaton, the millionaire Turkish-Jew who pulled out of the Trabizon project with American-Armenian millionaire Hirair Hovnanian under pressure from the Turkish press, says both sides were the ultimate losers.
"Those who criticized me in Turkey are now saying please revive at least part of the Trabizon project by expanding the port facilities there. My answer is: 'Never again.'"
In an interview at his lavish office overlooking the massive bridge spanning across the European and Asian land masses of Turkey, Alaton agreed with Turkish and Western diplomats that the Nagorno Karabakh question was a key to any meaningful improvement in Turkish-Armenian relations.
"I watched what happened to Armenia last winter ... what a pity. I don't think Armenia can survive another winter like that, but Turkey will not change. The blockade will continue next winter. There will be no flights or road traffic. This means another winter of hardship ... I have nothing positive to offer," he said, shaking his head.
If the Trabizon project failed, what about the proposed Azerbaijani and Central Asian oil pipelines through Armenia, Turkey and to the Black Sea?
Alaton, like other business and political leaders, sees no hope in that either.
"Turkey is under too much pressure on the home front to do anything. The pipeline could be the result of peace in the region but not the incentive. It is peace first, and maybe pipeline later," he said.
Discussions with Candan Azer, Ishak Alaton, western diplomats, economists, intellectuals and journalists reinforce one thing: the road to normalizing relations between powerful Turkey and its poor neighbor Armenia is long and difficult.
Today an Armenian withdrawal and the acceptance of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno Karabakh are Turkey's main declared preconditions.
Will other conditions be placed if these hurdles are removed? Diplomats and politicians alike have no straight answers.
Only time will tell.
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