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AZERBAIJAN'S PRESIDENT SYNCHRONIZES WATCHES WITH TURKEY
By Vladimir Socor
Eurasia Daily Monitor
Nov 10 2008
DC
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Turkey on November 5 and
6 as his first official trip abroad since reelection, underscoring
the two countries' special relationship. While traditional, that
relationship has evolved substantially during Ilham Aliyev's presidency
and is no longer asymmetrical. As he remarked during his visit to
Ankara, "Turkey supported Azerbaijan during hard times, but in the
meantime Azerbaijan has become stronger and is contributing fully to
the bilateral relationship" (www.day.az via ANS-Press, November 6).
Aliyev and Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov synchronized
watches with their Turkish counterparts with regard to accelerating
talks on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and follow-up negotiations.
In statements issued during Aliyev's visit, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed,
apparently without reservations, the Moscow Declaration of November
2 about a settlement of the Karabakh conflict signed by Aliyev,
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, and their host Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev (see EDM, November 4). According to the two Turkish
statements, the Moscow Declaration fits in well with Turkey's vision
about resolving that conflict peacefully, on the basis of international
law and direct high-level dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia. As
a member of the OSCE's Minsk Group, which is mandated to provide a
framework for negotiations in that conflict, Turkey will continue
to work with both parties toward a solution. According to both
Turkish statements, the "Platform for Security and Stability in the
Caucasus"--a concept that Ankara outlined in mid-August, prompted in
part by Russia's invasion of Georgia--is consistent with the Moscow
Declaration and can also be used as a basis for negotiations in
the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict (Anatolia News Agency, November 5;
Turkish Daily News, November 6).
Aliyev's comments on the Moscow Declaration were more nuanced but on
the whole positive. He described it as a good basis for continuing
negotiations, drawing attention to the document's salient points
from Azerbaijan's perspective. The declaration makes reference to
a stage-by-stage political settlement; and it endorses past and
recent resolutions on that conflict by international organizations,
adopted in compliance with international legal norms (an allusion
to Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and inviolability of its
internationally recognized borders). Aliyev made clear, however,
what stage-by-stage must signify: First, withdrawal of "occupation
forces from Azerbaijani territories" and the return to their homes
there of Azerbaijani citizens who were forced to flee. Afterward,
the status of Karabakh should be discussed, proceeding in any case
from Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
By the same token Aliyev underscored that "Implementation of any
region-wide project, political or economic, is impossible without
our participation and consent. Energy and transportation projects,
important for the region and the world, are being implemented at our
initiative." This is an indirect answer to those who advise, urge, and
occasionally pressure Azerbaijan to include Armenia in such project,
while the occupation of Azerbaijani territories continues and the
ethnic cleansing has yet to be reversed. Aliyev made these points in
his address to Turkey's Grand National Assembly (parliament) and in
other remarks delivered during the visit (ANS, APA, November 6).
During Aliyev's visit, Gul stated that "energy and transportation
projects are open to the entire region and can bring peace and
stability" (Anatolia News Agency, November 5; Turkish Daily News,
November 6). At the public level it did not seem fully clear whether
Gul had in mind a sequenced process, whereby Armenia could be
included in those projects after, not before, meeting the criteria
of a good-neighborly relationship with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
In its November 7 issue, the Ankara newspaper Today's Zaman, which
is close to circles in the governing AKP party, cited "diplomatic
sources" as saying that Gul intended to host a tripartite summit
with the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents, theoretically by early
April. Other Turkish media sources added to that version. The agenda
of such a summit would, like the Moscow summit of November 2, focus
on the Karabakh conflict but would not be confined to that. The time
and venue of such an event would be coordinated with Yerevan.
That same day, however, Sarkisian turned down the idea. He argued
that Turkey could not be a mediator because it was not a co-chair of
the 12-country Minsk Group. Under the Moscow Declaration, the Group's
co-chairs (Russia, the United States, and France), not the other member
countries, shall act as mediators. Apparently backtracking, Turkey's
MFA announced through a spokesman that Turkey would welcome visits
by the presidents of both Armenia and Azerbaijan but at this time was
not trying to arrange a tripartite summit (Today's Zaman, November 7;
Arminfo, PanArmenianNet, Anatolia News Agency, November 7, 8).
On November 7 back in Baku, Aliyev received the Turkish Armed Forces
Chief of Staff, General Ilker Basbug, to discuss continuing military
cooperation, building on the successes achieved (AzerTaj, November
7). Alluding to the Georgia crisis, Azerbaijan Defense Minister General
Safar Abiyev noted during Basbug's visit that ongoing developments
in the region made bilateral Azerbaijan-Turkey relations even more
necessary than before.
By Vladimir Socor
Eurasia Daily Monitor
Nov 10 2008
DC
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited Turkey on November 5 and
6 as his first official trip abroad since reelection, underscoring
the two countries' special relationship. While traditional, that
relationship has evolved substantially during Ilham Aliyev's presidency
and is no longer asymmetrical. As he remarked during his visit to
Ankara, "Turkey supported Azerbaijan during hard times, but in the
meantime Azerbaijan has become stronger and is contributing fully to
the bilateral relationship" (www.day.az via ANS-Press, November 6).
Aliyev and Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov synchronized
watches with their Turkish counterparts with regard to accelerating
talks on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and follow-up negotiations.
In statements issued during Aliyev's visit, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed,
apparently without reservations, the Moscow Declaration of November
2 about a settlement of the Karabakh conflict signed by Aliyev,
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, and their host Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev (see EDM, November 4). According to the two Turkish
statements, the Moscow Declaration fits in well with Turkey's vision
about resolving that conflict peacefully, on the basis of international
law and direct high-level dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia. As
a member of the OSCE's Minsk Group, which is mandated to provide a
framework for negotiations in that conflict, Turkey will continue
to work with both parties toward a solution. According to both
Turkish statements, the "Platform for Security and Stability in the
Caucasus"--a concept that Ankara outlined in mid-August, prompted in
part by Russia's invasion of Georgia--is consistent with the Moscow
Declaration and can also be used as a basis for negotiations in
the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict (Anatolia News Agency, November 5;
Turkish Daily News, November 6).
Aliyev's comments on the Moscow Declaration were more nuanced but on
the whole positive. He described it as a good basis for continuing
negotiations, drawing attention to the document's salient points
from Azerbaijan's perspective. The declaration makes reference to
a stage-by-stage political settlement; and it endorses past and
recent resolutions on that conflict by international organizations,
adopted in compliance with international legal norms (an allusion
to Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and inviolability of its
internationally recognized borders). Aliyev made clear, however,
what stage-by-stage must signify: First, withdrawal of "occupation
forces from Azerbaijani territories" and the return to their homes
there of Azerbaijani citizens who were forced to flee. Afterward,
the status of Karabakh should be discussed, proceeding in any case
from Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
By the same token Aliyev underscored that "Implementation of any
region-wide project, political or economic, is impossible without
our participation and consent. Energy and transportation projects,
important for the region and the world, are being implemented at our
initiative." This is an indirect answer to those who advise, urge, and
occasionally pressure Azerbaijan to include Armenia in such project,
while the occupation of Azerbaijani territories continues and the
ethnic cleansing has yet to be reversed. Aliyev made these points in
his address to Turkey's Grand National Assembly (parliament) and in
other remarks delivered during the visit (ANS, APA, November 6).
During Aliyev's visit, Gul stated that "energy and transportation
projects are open to the entire region and can bring peace and
stability" (Anatolia News Agency, November 5; Turkish Daily News,
November 6). At the public level it did not seem fully clear whether
Gul had in mind a sequenced process, whereby Armenia could be
included in those projects after, not before, meeting the criteria
of a good-neighborly relationship with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
In its November 7 issue, the Ankara newspaper Today's Zaman, which
is close to circles in the governing AKP party, cited "diplomatic
sources" as saying that Gul intended to host a tripartite summit
with the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents, theoretically by early
April. Other Turkish media sources added to that version. The agenda
of such a summit would, like the Moscow summit of November 2, focus
on the Karabakh conflict but would not be confined to that. The time
and venue of such an event would be coordinated with Yerevan.
That same day, however, Sarkisian turned down the idea. He argued
that Turkey could not be a mediator because it was not a co-chair of
the 12-country Minsk Group. Under the Moscow Declaration, the Group's
co-chairs (Russia, the United States, and France), not the other member
countries, shall act as mediators. Apparently backtracking, Turkey's
MFA announced through a spokesman that Turkey would welcome visits
by the presidents of both Armenia and Azerbaijan but at this time was
not trying to arrange a tripartite summit (Today's Zaman, November 7;
Arminfo, PanArmenianNet, Anatolia News Agency, November 7, 8).
On November 7 back in Baku, Aliyev received the Turkish Armed Forces
Chief of Staff, General Ilker Basbug, to discuss continuing military
cooperation, building on the successes achieved (AzerTaj, November
7). Alluding to the Georgia crisis, Azerbaijan Defense Minister General
Safar Abiyev noted during Basbug's visit that ongoing developments
in the region made bilateral Azerbaijan-Turkey relations even more
necessary than before.