Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

BAKU: Karabakh A 'Major Issue' In Armenian-Turkish Talks

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • BAKU: Karabakh A 'Major Issue' In Armenian-Turkish Talks

    KARABAKH A 'MAJOR ISSUE' IN ARMENIAN-TURKISH TALKS

    news.az
    April 13 2010
    Azerbaijan

    APA interviews Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

    You are accompanying Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
    on his visit to Washington, where he discussed many issues today,
    especially during his meeting with the Armenian president. What place
    did Azerbaijan, and especially Nagorno-Karabakh, take in the talks?

    As usual, this was a major issue. Our prime minister is very interested
    in explaining to the Armenian leaders the sensitive points of the
    Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We believe Azerbaijan is an integral part
    of a solution to the problem in the Caucasus and that its exclusion
    from the process is out of the question. There is no question of
    Turkey leaving Azerbaijan out of the cycle in any way.

    Before the US visit, I spoke to Azerbaijani diplomats. Our
    representative has been in Baku and Yerevan. We are in frequent
    contact with them.

    It is also important for Turkey that the Obama administration focus
    its attention on this topic. I want to reiterate that the liberation
    of the occupied Azerbaijani territories was one of the goals of
    the Turkish-Armenian protocols, in addition to the normalization of
    Turkish-Armenian bilateral relations.

    We will maintain our peaceful perspective but we will not let
    anyone put pressure on Turkey over issues on which we can give no
    concessions. We hope our counterparts on this issue have received
    the message.

    The international community must understand that one-sided peace is
    impossible in the South Caucasus.

    What is the next step in the normalization of Armenian-Turkish
    relations?

    The fact is that we have always been aware that Turkish-Armenian
    reconciliation alone is not enough to create peace and stability in
    the South Caucasus. Only with a comprehensive solution can we maintain
    the atmosphere of reconciliation and remove the remaining barriers
    to dialogue, cooperation and peace in the region. This, of course,
    will require political will and courage.

    We all want to forget the previous hostility and to instigate in
    future positive aspects of common history. It is very important that
    we have a common aspiration to build a bright future in the South
    Caucasus. One of them is signing the Turkish-Armenian protocols in
    Zurich on 10 October. However, the decision of the Constitutional
    Court of Armenia to introduce changes to the protocols was a sudden
    obstacle to ratification of the protocols.

    If all sides - we and they - take responsibility and try to contribute
    to the achievement of comprehensive peace in the South Caucasus, then
    the Turkish parliament will ratify the protocols in the near future.

    This will not only facilitate the rapprochement between the two
    nations, but also continue the way to the new future and establishment
    of peace, prosperity and cooperation. In this respect, the urgent
    need is not to impede the establishment of peace and stability under
    a veil of fictional juridical problems.

    However, as our PM said, we will explain to the US administration that
    we cannot achieve lasting peace in the region without resolving the
    Nagorno-Karabakh issue. We strongly believe that the occupation of
    Azerbaijani lands by Armenia complicated cooperation in the Caucasus
    on a regional and global scale. The OSCE Minsk Group is the only
    international instrument that can induce the parties to take steps
    to overcome their differences and reach a peaceful settlement.

    Recognition of the so-called 'Armenian genocide' will have a very
    negative impact on the further establishment of peace in the Caucasus.

    May US President Obama recognize the 'Armenian genocide' this month,
    thereby spoiling strategic relations with Turkey? If so, how will it
    influence the negotiations on Turkish-Armenian rapprochement?

    I hope that President Barack Obama will not recognize it on 24 April
    [marked by Armenians as Genocide Remembrance Day]. Every spring
    we face with fear the threat of crisis in US-Turkish relations. The
    United States now has two options: to bring to nought all the progress
    achieved in relations between Turkey and Armenia, and in general in
    the South Caucasus, or to continue promoting the peace process in
    the region. We think they will choose the second path.
Working...
X