Azerbaijan, Baku, April 2 /Trend News, E. Tariverdiyeva/

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mathew Bryza will arrive in Baku at night on April 2. The possible impact of the Armenia-Turkey agreement on normalization of relations on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is expected to be discussed during the visit, OSCE Minsk Group co-chair Bryza told Trend News in a telephone conversation from Washington.

"Normalization of the Armenia-Turkey ties will create new and positive dynamics in the region," he said.

Turkey and Armenia seek to normalize ties severed since 1993. Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan on Sept. 6, 2008 upon the invitation of his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to watch an Armenia-Turkey football match.

Efforts have been made to normalize ties between the two countries ever since.

Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed due to Armenia's claims of an alleged genocide, the country's occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands and territorial claims to Turkey's Anatolia province.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

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