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ALLIES HOLD BROTHERLY MEETING
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Nov 15 2013
15 November 2013 - 10:01am
By Victoria Panfilova, an NG observer exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has made a two-day visit to Turkey.
There is no point in describing the official part of the visit,
details of the grand reception Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan organized for the Azerbaijani leader
and his wife. Those interested may satisfy their curiosity through
Internet searches. It could not be any different than according to
Heydar Aliyev's precept "Two states - one nation". We will refer to
what was missed from the foreground.
Actually, the visit of Ilham Aliyev was not as simple as it may seem.
Mediators of the OSCE Minsk Group overseeing the Nagorno-Karabakh
negotiations, visited Baku and Yerevan last week and met the presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia. They announced that the leaders agreed to
meet. Such talks may happen in late November.
Commentaries of the world society, specialists of conflicts and
diplomatic experts show that the current state of negotiations is
not satisfactory. The expression of understanding that Aliyev and
Sargsyan stated were aimed at simultaneous electoral campaigns, which
cramped the space for maneuvers. Leaders need to demonstrate firmness
and inviolability of positions to voters. The presidents understand
that the world is tired of waiting and it is time to do something
real to settle the conflict, find compromises, stop imitating the
negotiation process.
In such a complicated atmosphere, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu announced the readiness of Ankara to renew the process
of normalizing relations with Yerevan, for which a message of
Switzerland was composed. The latter has become the mediator in the
Armenian-Turkish talks. Switzerland will chair the OSCE in 2014.
Turkey believes that Swiss diplomats must convince Armenia to
withdraw from at least 5 out of 7 Azerbaijani districts around
Nagorno-Karabakh. In this case, Baku would not object Turkey's opening
the Turkish-Armenian border, closed by Ankara during the Karabakh
war as a sign of solidarity with Azerbaijan. Restoration of the
Gyumri (Armenia) - Kars (turkey) Railway, not to mention the roads,
would allow Turkey to parry any Western accusations of stalemate in
normalization of relations with Armenia.
Progress on the Turkish-Armenian side was evident from the publication
of the Zaman paper. It wrote about contracts of Turkish and Swiss
diplomats and hinted that Armenia was ready to leave the five
districts. Yerevan did not confirm such plans. But existence of the
idea itself was not even denied. It is a matter of price.
It is common knowledge that Armenia was ready to withdraw from 5 out
of 7 districts called 'the security line of Nagorno-Karabakh', and
demanded recognition of sovereignty of the self-proclaimed republic
in exchange some time ago. That was absolutely unacceptable for
Azerbaijan. Whether the formula has changed today is unclear. But
changes in the formula cannot be ruled out, judging by the presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia saying that the meeting would only be useful
if it brings practical changes in the settlement process.
Declarations of Davutoglu and publications of Zaman about activation of
Turkish forces that call Ankara the regional leader in normalization
of relations with Yerevan and believe that it cares too much about
Baku and its interests only contribute to the complex background of
the upcoming meeting of Aliyev and Sargsyan. They insist that Turkey
can and must maintain the level of strategic alliance with Azerbaijan,
but the latter has to show understanding of any positive trends in
Turkish-Armenian relations. Clearly, Aliyev needed convincement that
his best ally is trustworthy or at least ready for changes in the
Ankara-Yerevan axis.
The Azerbaijani left Turkey satisfied. Abdullah Gul and Recep Tayyip
Erdogan assured that the firm position of Turkey in relations with
Armenia will not change until the problem of occupied territories
and Nagorno-Karabakh will be solved in the interest of Azerbaijan.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/47607.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Nov 15 2013
15 November 2013 - 10:01am
By Victoria Panfilova, an NG observer exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has made a two-day visit to Turkey.
There is no point in describing the official part of the visit,
details of the grand reception Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan organized for the Azerbaijani leader
and his wife. Those interested may satisfy their curiosity through
Internet searches. It could not be any different than according to
Heydar Aliyev's precept "Two states - one nation". We will refer to
what was missed from the foreground.
Actually, the visit of Ilham Aliyev was not as simple as it may seem.
Mediators of the OSCE Minsk Group overseeing the Nagorno-Karabakh
negotiations, visited Baku and Yerevan last week and met the presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia. They announced that the leaders agreed to
meet. Such talks may happen in late November.
Commentaries of the world society, specialists of conflicts and
diplomatic experts show that the current state of negotiations is
not satisfactory. The expression of understanding that Aliyev and
Sargsyan stated were aimed at simultaneous electoral campaigns, which
cramped the space for maneuvers. Leaders need to demonstrate firmness
and inviolability of positions to voters. The presidents understand
that the world is tired of waiting and it is time to do something
real to settle the conflict, find compromises, stop imitating the
negotiation process.
In such a complicated atmosphere, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu announced the readiness of Ankara to renew the process
of normalizing relations with Yerevan, for which a message of
Switzerland was composed. The latter has become the mediator in the
Armenian-Turkish talks. Switzerland will chair the OSCE in 2014.
Turkey believes that Swiss diplomats must convince Armenia to
withdraw from at least 5 out of 7 Azerbaijani districts around
Nagorno-Karabakh. In this case, Baku would not object Turkey's opening
the Turkish-Armenian border, closed by Ankara during the Karabakh
war as a sign of solidarity with Azerbaijan. Restoration of the
Gyumri (Armenia) - Kars (turkey) Railway, not to mention the roads,
would allow Turkey to parry any Western accusations of stalemate in
normalization of relations with Armenia.
Progress on the Turkish-Armenian side was evident from the publication
of the Zaman paper. It wrote about contracts of Turkish and Swiss
diplomats and hinted that Armenia was ready to leave the five
districts. Yerevan did not confirm such plans. But existence of the
idea itself was not even denied. It is a matter of price.
It is common knowledge that Armenia was ready to withdraw from 5 out
of 7 districts called 'the security line of Nagorno-Karabakh', and
demanded recognition of sovereignty of the self-proclaimed republic
in exchange some time ago. That was absolutely unacceptable for
Azerbaijan. Whether the formula has changed today is unclear. But
changes in the formula cannot be ruled out, judging by the presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia saying that the meeting would only be useful
if it brings practical changes in the settlement process.
Declarations of Davutoglu and publications of Zaman about activation of
Turkish forces that call Ankara the regional leader in normalization
of relations with Yerevan and believe that it cares too much about
Baku and its interests only contribute to the complex background of
the upcoming meeting of Aliyev and Sargsyan. They insist that Turkey
can and must maintain the level of strategic alliance with Azerbaijan,
but the latter has to show understanding of any positive trends in
Turkish-Armenian relations. Clearly, Aliyev needed convincement that
his best ally is trustworthy or at least ready for changes in the
Ankara-Yerevan axis.
The Azerbaijani left Turkey satisfied. Abdullah Gul and Recep Tayyip
Erdogan assured that the firm position of Turkey in relations with
Armenia will not change until the problem of occupied territories
and Nagorno-Karabakh will be solved in the interest of Azerbaijan.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/47607.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress