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'NAGORNO-KARABAKH IS TURKEY'S PROBLEM TOO,' SAYS ERDOGAN
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Nov 13 2013
13 November 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated Ankara's commitment
to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
saying that "Karabakh is not just Azerbaijan's problem, but also
Turkey's problem."
Speaking at a joint press conference with Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev on Wednesday, Erdoğan noted that Turkey's unconditional support
for Azerbaijan continues and described current bilateral relations as
"excellent."
For his part, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has full trust in Turkey
when it comes to the case of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed enclave between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Armenia occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory in early 1990s,
including Nagorno-Karabakh, primarily populated by Armenians, and seven
adjacent provinces. Diplomatic efforts to find an enduring solution
to the conflict have failed for the past 20 years but Azerbaijan vows
to get its territories back by force, if necessary.
Turkey closed its borders with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan. The issue of Armenia's withdrawal from the area surrounding
Nagorno-Karabakh is of importance to Ankara, which has frequently
signaled that this step would ease the way for the reopening of the
border with Armenia.
Erdoğan's remarks came after a Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic
Cooperation Council meeting at the Prime Ministry in Ankara.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan is very pleased to see that Turkey is becoming
stronger, adding that no initiative could be taken in the region
without Turkey's approval and added that Baku knows that Turkey will
continue to stand by Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"We are sure that Turkey will always stand with us on the issue of
Nagorno-Karabakh," said Aliyev.
The conflict remains unresolved and has the potential to destabilize
the region. It also hampers any attempts at normalization between
Turkey and Armenia, two estranged neighbors that are at odds not only
because of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, but also because of Armenian
claims of genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire at the beginning
of the last century.
Two protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia to normalize relations
and reopen the closed border were not implemented given opposition
from Azerbaijan.
Speaking about the mutual goal of the two states, Erdoğan stated that
there is increasing growth in the political, military, cultural and
economic developments between two countries.
"In economic terms, it [trade volume] is $4.2 billion, and this will
continue to grow. Now, our target is $15 billion. By 2020, the trade
volume between Turkey and Azerbaijan will reach $15 billion. We have
opportunities to make joint investments in natural gas in the Balkans.
We will make plans for this. The relevant ministers from the two
countries, particularly the foreign ministers, had fruitful talks on
what could be done," said Erdoğan.
Erdoğan also noted that Turkey and Azerbaijan could take joint steps
in the field of defense, saying that the two states would do whatever
is necessary as part of the responsibility of being "one nation,
two states."
Visa issue to be solved soon, says Aliyev
The Azerbaijani president also added that both countries had
made important progress in eliminating visa requirements and that
businessmen and academics will be the first to benefit from a new
visa deal.
"Each country has its own policy on visas. Academics, businessmen and
those who have close contact with Azerbaijan will benefit from the
removal of a visa requirement. In the coming days, this issue will
be resolved between the two countries, and after that there will be
no need for questions on this issue," said Aliyev.
Aliyev emphasized that important projects such as the Trans-Anatolian
Pipeline (TANAP) have been agreed by the governments of Azerbaijan
and Turkey. He noted that TANAP will change the energy map of Europe.
TANAP, which is expected to be completed in 2018, is projected to have
a capacity of around 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
Ankara says around 6 billion cubic meters will be consumed by Turkey,
while the rest will be sent to Europe.
Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement in June
2012 on the TANAP project. In December 2011, Azerbaijan and Turkey
signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a consortium to
build a gas pipeline to supply gas from the Shah Deniz field to Europe
through Turkish territory.
According to Azerbaijani media outlets, Kenan Yavuz, the CEO of the
State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), recently stated
that Azerbaijan will become Turkey's largest energy investor with
the commissioning of the Star refinery next year.
Turkey and Azerbaijan underlined solidarity as regional allies and
reviewed energy cooperation as the presidents of the two countries
sat down for talks during Aliyev's visit, his first trip abroad since
he was re-elected to his post for a third time last month.
President Abdullah Gul also said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan's
territorial integrity is a "national issue" for Turkey.
"We reviewed big economic projects, [cooperation in the fields of] gas,
energy and transportation. We also discussed the issue of Azerbaijan's
territorial integrity and the liberation of Azerbaijan's occupied
territories, which is a national issue for Azerbaijan and which we
also view as a national issue," Gul told the press conference. "I
believe this [liberation of Azerbaijani territories] will be realized
eventually," Gul also said, adding that such a resolution to the
long-standing conflict should come through diplomacy.
Further underlining the close ties, Aliyev was awarded the Order of
the Republic (Cumhuriyet Nişanı) by Gul for his outstanding success in
strengthening bilateral ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan. Aliyev also
conferred Azerbaijan's "Haydar Aliyev Order of the Republic" on Gul.
Gul and Aliyev also visited the facilities of Turkish Aerospace
Industries (TAI) later in the day and watched demonstrations of
the training aircraft HURKUŞ and the ATAK/T129 Attack and Tactical
Reconnaissance Helicopter, both designed and manufactured by TAI,
from the flight tower at TAI's facilities.
Presidential elections took place in Azerbaijan on Oct. 9 of this year,
and Aliyev was re-elected to serve for the next five years. This is
Aliyev's third term as president.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-331310-nagorno-karabakh-is-turkeys-problem-too-says-erdogan.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Nov 13 2013
13 November 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated Ankara's commitment
to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
saying that "Karabakh is not just Azerbaijan's problem, but also
Turkey's problem."
Speaking at a joint press conference with Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev on Wednesday, Erdoğan noted that Turkey's unconditional support
for Azerbaijan continues and described current bilateral relations as
"excellent."
For his part, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has full trust in Turkey
when it comes to the case of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed enclave between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Armenia occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory in early 1990s,
including Nagorno-Karabakh, primarily populated by Armenians, and seven
adjacent provinces. Diplomatic efforts to find an enduring solution
to the conflict have failed for the past 20 years but Azerbaijan vows
to get its territories back by force, if necessary.
Turkey closed its borders with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan. The issue of Armenia's withdrawal from the area surrounding
Nagorno-Karabakh is of importance to Ankara, which has frequently
signaled that this step would ease the way for the reopening of the
border with Armenia.
Erdoğan's remarks came after a Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic
Cooperation Council meeting at the Prime Ministry in Ankara.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan is very pleased to see that Turkey is becoming
stronger, adding that no initiative could be taken in the region
without Turkey's approval and added that Baku knows that Turkey will
continue to stand by Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"We are sure that Turkey will always stand with us on the issue of
Nagorno-Karabakh," said Aliyev.
The conflict remains unresolved and has the potential to destabilize
the region. It also hampers any attempts at normalization between
Turkey and Armenia, two estranged neighbors that are at odds not only
because of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, but also because of Armenian
claims of genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire at the beginning
of the last century.
Two protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia to normalize relations
and reopen the closed border were not implemented given opposition
from Azerbaijan.
Speaking about the mutual goal of the two states, Erdoğan stated that
there is increasing growth in the political, military, cultural and
economic developments between two countries.
"In economic terms, it [trade volume] is $4.2 billion, and this will
continue to grow. Now, our target is $15 billion. By 2020, the trade
volume between Turkey and Azerbaijan will reach $15 billion. We have
opportunities to make joint investments in natural gas in the Balkans.
We will make plans for this. The relevant ministers from the two
countries, particularly the foreign ministers, had fruitful talks on
what could be done," said Erdoğan.
Erdoğan also noted that Turkey and Azerbaijan could take joint steps
in the field of defense, saying that the two states would do whatever
is necessary as part of the responsibility of being "one nation,
two states."
Visa issue to be solved soon, says Aliyev
The Azerbaijani president also added that both countries had
made important progress in eliminating visa requirements and that
businessmen and academics will be the first to benefit from a new
visa deal.
"Each country has its own policy on visas. Academics, businessmen and
those who have close contact with Azerbaijan will benefit from the
removal of a visa requirement. In the coming days, this issue will
be resolved between the two countries, and after that there will be
no need for questions on this issue," said Aliyev.
Aliyev emphasized that important projects such as the Trans-Anatolian
Pipeline (TANAP) have been agreed by the governments of Azerbaijan
and Turkey. He noted that TANAP will change the energy map of Europe.
TANAP, which is expected to be completed in 2018, is projected to have
a capacity of around 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
Ankara says around 6 billion cubic meters will be consumed by Turkey,
while the rest will be sent to Europe.
Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement in June
2012 on the TANAP project. In December 2011, Azerbaijan and Turkey
signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a consortium to
build a gas pipeline to supply gas from the Shah Deniz field to Europe
through Turkish territory.
According to Azerbaijani media outlets, Kenan Yavuz, the CEO of the
State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), recently stated
that Azerbaijan will become Turkey's largest energy investor with
the commissioning of the Star refinery next year.
Turkey and Azerbaijan underlined solidarity as regional allies and
reviewed energy cooperation as the presidents of the two countries
sat down for talks during Aliyev's visit, his first trip abroad since
he was re-elected to his post for a third time last month.
President Abdullah Gul also said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan's
territorial integrity is a "national issue" for Turkey.
"We reviewed big economic projects, [cooperation in the fields of] gas,
energy and transportation. We also discussed the issue of Azerbaijan's
territorial integrity and the liberation of Azerbaijan's occupied
territories, which is a national issue for Azerbaijan and which we
also view as a national issue," Gul told the press conference. "I
believe this [liberation of Azerbaijani territories] will be realized
eventually," Gul also said, adding that such a resolution to the
long-standing conflict should come through diplomacy.
Further underlining the close ties, Aliyev was awarded the Order of
the Republic (Cumhuriyet Nişanı) by Gul for his outstanding success in
strengthening bilateral ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan. Aliyev also
conferred Azerbaijan's "Haydar Aliyev Order of the Republic" on Gul.
Gul and Aliyev also visited the facilities of Turkish Aerospace
Industries (TAI) later in the day and watched demonstrations of
the training aircraft HURKUŞ and the ATAK/T129 Attack and Tactical
Reconnaissance Helicopter, both designed and manufactured by TAI,
from the flight tower at TAI's facilities.
Presidential elections took place in Azerbaijan on Oct. 9 of this year,
and Aliyev was re-elected to serve for the next five years. This is
Aliyev's third term as president.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-331310-nagorno-karabakh-is-turkeys-problem-too-says-erdogan.html