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AZERBAIJAN MAY END UP IN CONFLICT SITUATION BY BREAKING TIES WITH FRANCE, ISRAEL
news.az
Oct 20 2011
Azerbaijan
News.Az interviews Fazil Mustafa, member of the Azerbaijan-Turkey
working group on parliamentary ties and member of the Azerbaijani
Parliament.
May inclusion of the Turkey-Armenia protocols into the agenda of the
Turkish Parliament be enough to liven up Turkey-Armenia normalization
process?
The stance taken by Armenia does not allow Turkey to take the issue
of normalization of ties with Armenia to the agenda of the parliament.
This is because the Constitutional Court of Armenia ruled against
discussing Turkey-Armenia protocols signed in Zurich on 10 October
2009.
In this connection, Armenia lacks political situation suitable enough
to table this issue in the parliament.
Nevertheless, there is no appropriate situation in Turkey that would
make it possible to review normalization of ties with Armenia as
OSCE Minsk Group efforts to solve Karabakh conflict do not produce
any results.
More likely, Turkey-Armenia normalization may come into mainstream
after the upcoming 2012 presidential elections in Russia and U.S.
Turkey may take up this issue again following elections in these
countries. Anyway, Turkey and Armenia are not expected to review
provisions of these protocols again.
A number of Turkish politicians have claimed recently that Azerbaijan
should halt all oil and gas contracts with France due to French
President Nicolas Sarkozy's threats to institute a punishment for
the denying the so-called "Armenian genocide." How realistic are
proposals of the Turkish politicians?
I don't think these proposals are correct because proposals for
Azerbaijan to sever ties with foreign states can be interpreted as
an attempt to involve the country into conflict situation.
Nevertheless, I believe Sarkozy's attitude towards Azerbaijan which
he showed during his recent visit to Baku is unpleasant and incorrect.
The remarks Sarkozy made in Yerevan aimed at threatening Turkic world.
Therefore, during his visit to Baku, Sarkozy should have been given
a good response for what he had said. But Baku did not criticize
Sarkozy which caused confusion in Turkey.
As to a proposal for Azerbaijan to beak ties with French structure,
this would be a wrong step.
How reasonable are demands of Turkish official and non-official people
for Azerbaijan to break ties with Israel?
It is incorrect to advise Azerbaijan to terminate diplomatic ties
with Israel. This kind of demands does not meet national interests of
Turkey as Azerbaijan can make similar demands in case similar situation
surfaces in Turkey in future. In this matter, one does not need to
confuse the Karabakh conflict with other problems, in particular,
with the Turkish-Israeli relations.
After all, the Karabakh problem is not just the fact of occupation
of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia. The Armenian side, at the same
time, makes territorial claims against Turkey. Ankara, at a time when
Armenia insults Turkey's territorial integrity, must take steps taking
into account not only own interests, but also interests of Azerbaijan.
Therefore, it is not right to compare relations between Turkey and
Armenia with the relations between Azerbaijan and Israel.
What chances might Turkey-Armenia rapprochement have if Azerbaijan
was initially involved in negotiating process?
Despite the U.S. played a significant role in Turkey-Armenia
normalization, Turkey is also interested in resuming talks with
Yerevan. Of course, Russia also has a direct bearing on the issue.
Turkey believes that it is possible to solve the Karabakh conflict
and the problem of normalizing relations with Yerevan without military
intervention, by involving Armenia with regional projects. In addition,
at a time when Armenian-Turkish protocols were signed it seemed unreal
to include Azerbaijan in a process of normalizing Turkish-Armenian
relations. It does not seem realistic at current stage, too. Baku
may be involved in this process only in the later stages on the side
of Turkey.
news.az
Oct 20 2011
Azerbaijan
News.Az interviews Fazil Mustafa, member of the Azerbaijan-Turkey
working group on parliamentary ties and member of the Azerbaijani
Parliament.
May inclusion of the Turkey-Armenia protocols into the agenda of the
Turkish Parliament be enough to liven up Turkey-Armenia normalization
process?
The stance taken by Armenia does not allow Turkey to take the issue
of normalization of ties with Armenia to the agenda of the parliament.
This is because the Constitutional Court of Armenia ruled against
discussing Turkey-Armenia protocols signed in Zurich on 10 October
2009.
In this connection, Armenia lacks political situation suitable enough
to table this issue in the parliament.
Nevertheless, there is no appropriate situation in Turkey that would
make it possible to review normalization of ties with Armenia as
OSCE Minsk Group efforts to solve Karabakh conflict do not produce
any results.
More likely, Turkey-Armenia normalization may come into mainstream
after the upcoming 2012 presidential elections in Russia and U.S.
Turkey may take up this issue again following elections in these
countries. Anyway, Turkey and Armenia are not expected to review
provisions of these protocols again.
A number of Turkish politicians have claimed recently that Azerbaijan
should halt all oil and gas contracts with France due to French
President Nicolas Sarkozy's threats to institute a punishment for
the denying the so-called "Armenian genocide." How realistic are
proposals of the Turkish politicians?
I don't think these proposals are correct because proposals for
Azerbaijan to sever ties with foreign states can be interpreted as
an attempt to involve the country into conflict situation.
Nevertheless, I believe Sarkozy's attitude towards Azerbaijan which
he showed during his recent visit to Baku is unpleasant and incorrect.
The remarks Sarkozy made in Yerevan aimed at threatening Turkic world.
Therefore, during his visit to Baku, Sarkozy should have been given
a good response for what he had said. But Baku did not criticize
Sarkozy which caused confusion in Turkey.
As to a proposal for Azerbaijan to beak ties with French structure,
this would be a wrong step.
How reasonable are demands of Turkish official and non-official people
for Azerbaijan to break ties with Israel?
It is incorrect to advise Azerbaijan to terminate diplomatic ties
with Israel. This kind of demands does not meet national interests of
Turkey as Azerbaijan can make similar demands in case similar situation
surfaces in Turkey in future. In this matter, one does not need to
confuse the Karabakh conflict with other problems, in particular,
with the Turkish-Israeli relations.
After all, the Karabakh problem is not just the fact of occupation
of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia. The Armenian side, at the same
time, makes territorial claims against Turkey. Ankara, at a time when
Armenia insults Turkey's territorial integrity, must take steps taking
into account not only own interests, but also interests of Azerbaijan.
Therefore, it is not right to compare relations between Turkey and
Armenia with the relations between Azerbaijan and Israel.
What chances might Turkey-Armenia rapprochement have if Azerbaijan
was initially involved in negotiating process?
Despite the U.S. played a significant role in Turkey-Armenia
normalization, Turkey is also interested in resuming talks with
Yerevan. Of course, Russia also has a direct bearing on the issue.
Turkey believes that it is possible to solve the Karabakh conflict
and the problem of normalizing relations with Yerevan without military
intervention, by involving Armenia with regional projects. In addition,
at a time when Armenian-Turkish protocols were signed it seemed unreal
to include Azerbaijan in a process of normalizing Turkish-Armenian
relations. It does not seem realistic at current stage, too. Baku
may be involved in this process only in the later stages on the side
of Turkey.