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ALL SMILES IN FIRST GUL-ALIYEV MEETING AFTER WIKILEAKS DUMP
Today's Zaman
Dec 2 2010
Turkey
President Abdullah Gul met with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham
Aliyev, and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on the
sidelines of the OSCE summit in Astana on Wednesday.
President Abdullah Gul had his first bilateral talks on Wednesday
in Astana with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, who was
reported to have voiced remarks critical of the current Turkish
government in US diplomatic cables released recently by WikiLeaks,
a whistleblower website.
Following the release of a large number of sensitive US diplomatic
cables by the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website, Gul met with Aliyev
on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) summit in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana, where
both discussed the currently stalled Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
a territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Speaking to a group of Turkish journalists on the sidelines of
the summit in Astana, Gul said Aliyev denied the report during
their meeting. Gul said Aliyev expressed his dismay over the cables
presenting him as being critical of Erdogan. "He denied the veracity
of the documents and expressed his sadness," Gul said.
Documents leaked by WikiLeaks late on Sunday revealed Aliyev expressing
distaste for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, calling
Turkish foreign policy "naive" and its initiatives a "failure." But
the Azerbaijani side denied the fact that Aliyev had talked about
"third" countries during his meeting with US administration
officials. "Aliyev, as a rule, does not usually talk about third
countries in his meetings," Novruz Mammadov, head of international
relations at the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, said.
Gul also congratulated his Azerbaijani counterpart on the recent
parliamentary elections, which he defined as "successful." The
Azerbaijani ruling party, which Aliyev chairs, won a landslide
victory in the Nov. 7 general elections, making the party a majority
in parliament for the fourth time.
The cables disclosed that Aliyev spelled out the reasons why Azerbaijan
decided to sell gas to Russia last year, noting that "'Moscow had asked
and offered a good price for gas that was a surplus anyway." But the
real reason, the cable quotes Aliyev, was that the sale illustrated to
"our Turkish friends" that they will not be allowed to create a gas
distribution hub.
Gul defined Aliyev's alleged remarks as "contrary to the nature of
the job," as he referred to Azerbaijan's current cooperation with
Turkey on energy projects. "Why would Aliyev not want energy lines
to pass through Turkey?" Gul asked.
"Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan is working. This brings them much income. If
the Nabucco gas pipeline also passes through Turkey, Azerbaijan's
energy resources will reach lucrative markets. In this sense, I told
him not to be sad. Even if you hadn't said they weren't true, we did
not believe them anyway," Gul noted.
From: A. Papazian
Today's Zaman
Dec 2 2010
Turkey
President Abdullah Gul met with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham
Aliyev, and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on the
sidelines of the OSCE summit in Astana on Wednesday.
President Abdullah Gul had his first bilateral talks on Wednesday
in Astana with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, who was
reported to have voiced remarks critical of the current Turkish
government in US diplomatic cables released recently by WikiLeaks,
a whistleblower website.
Following the release of a large number of sensitive US diplomatic
cables by the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website, Gul met with Aliyev
on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) summit in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana, where
both discussed the currently stalled Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
a territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Speaking to a group of Turkish journalists on the sidelines of
the summit in Astana, Gul said Aliyev denied the report during
their meeting. Gul said Aliyev expressed his dismay over the cables
presenting him as being critical of Erdogan. "He denied the veracity
of the documents and expressed his sadness," Gul said.
Documents leaked by WikiLeaks late on Sunday revealed Aliyev expressing
distaste for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, calling
Turkish foreign policy "naive" and its initiatives a "failure." But
the Azerbaijani side denied the fact that Aliyev had talked about
"third" countries during his meeting with US administration
officials. "Aliyev, as a rule, does not usually talk about third
countries in his meetings," Novruz Mammadov, head of international
relations at the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, said.
Gul also congratulated his Azerbaijani counterpart on the recent
parliamentary elections, which he defined as "successful." The
Azerbaijani ruling party, which Aliyev chairs, won a landslide
victory in the Nov. 7 general elections, making the party a majority
in parliament for the fourth time.
The cables disclosed that Aliyev spelled out the reasons why Azerbaijan
decided to sell gas to Russia last year, noting that "'Moscow had asked
and offered a good price for gas that was a surplus anyway." But the
real reason, the cable quotes Aliyev, was that the sale illustrated to
"our Turkish friends" that they will not be allowed to create a gas
distribution hub.
Gul defined Aliyev's alleged remarks as "contrary to the nature of
the job," as he referred to Azerbaijan's current cooperation with
Turkey on energy projects. "Why would Aliyev not want energy lines
to pass through Turkey?" Gul asked.
"Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan is working. This brings them much income. If
the Nabucco gas pipeline also passes through Turkey, Azerbaijan's
energy resources will reach lucrative markets. In this sense, I told
him not to be sad. Even if you hadn't said they weren't true, we did
not believe them anyway," Gul noted.
From: A. Papazian