Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ANKARA: Baku Urges Ankara Not To Repeat 2009 'Mistake'

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

  • ANKARA: Baku Urges Ankara Not To Repeat 2009 'Mistake'

    BAKU URGES ANKARA NOT TO REPEAT 2009 'MISTAKE'

    Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
    Sept 21 2013

    ANKARA - Hurriyet Daily News
    by Serkan DemirtaÅ~_

    The chief of the foreign relations department of the Azerbaijani
    Presidency urges Ankara not to repeat the 2009 'mistake' of attempting
    to open borders with Armenia before the country withdraws from
    occupied lands

    A senior Azeri official has urged Turkey not to repeat the 2009
    "mistake" of attempting to open borders with Armenia before the
    country withdraws from occupied Azeri lands, underlining that they are
    suspicious of similar efforts to revive the stalled process between
    Ankara and Yerevan.

    "There are such attempts [for the revival of the Ankara-Yerevan
    process] these days. I am hopeful and sure that the Turkish leadership
    will not take steps contrary to the will of Azerbaijan and the
    Azerbaijani people," Novroz Mammadov, chief of the foreign relations
    department of the Azerbaijani Presidency, told the Hurriyet Daily
    News in an interview on Sept. 19.

    Without further elaborating on what these attempts were, Mammadov
    said he was talking about "possibilities" rather than concrete moves.

    Approached by the Daily News, Turkish diplomatic sources said there
    were no intentions for the revival of the reconciliation process
    and that Turkey's position vis-a-vis the Nagorno-Karabkh issue had
    not changed.

    "A step was taken in 2009. An agreement was signed between Turkey
    and Armenia under the monitoring of six foreign ministers. It was not
    possible to implement this agreement because it was unfair," he said.

    "We do not want it to occur a second time."

    Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols in 2009 but neither side
    succeed in bringing them before their Parliament for ratification
    and implementation. Turkey stopped the process because of a fierce
    reaction from Azerbaijan, 20 percent of whose territory is still
    under the occupation of Armenian troops.

    "We are grateful for Turkey's support to Azerbaijan with regard to
    the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. We are regretful because of the failure
    of the international community's efforts to resolve the problem since
    the early 1990s," he said.

    President Ä°lham Aliyev's adviser underlined that Baku was not in fact
    against Turkey opening its borders with Armenia but that such a move
    should follow a step taken by Yerevan with regard to Nagorno-Karabakh.

    "Turkey sealed its borders and cut diplomatic ties with Armenia after
    this country occupied our territories and the U.N. Security Council's
    resolution on this occupation. We'll have no objection to Turkey
    if it says it will move forward with Armenia on condition of ending
    this occupation," Mammadov said, in reference to the withdrawal of
    Armenian troops from the regions surrounding Karabakh.

    There are seven regions occupied and, as the Madrid Principles
    recommends, a gradual withdrawal process from such regions would
    allow Baku and Yerevan to start political talks for future steps.

    "Withdrawal from even three regions would allow the opening of the
    Turkish-Armenian border and the beginning of Azerbaijan-Armenia
    relations," he said.

    TANAP a historic deal

    Since 2009, Turkey and Azerbaijan have boosted economic, energy and
    political relations. The most important achievement was the signing
    of the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline Project (TANAP), aiming to carry
    Azeri gas to Europe via Turkey.

    "Our relations have entered into a new historic phase. The two
    countries have proven that they can initiate such projects together
    and take advantage of it," Mammadov said.

    Recalling that Turkey and Azerbaijan were already connected via the
    Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural
    gas pipeline, Mammadov said the accomplishment of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars
    railway would add another chain to this strong connection.

    "TANAP is the joint project of our two countries. Some other countries
    have also joined but this project is a success of our countries. Our
    brotherly relations have arrived at such a point that we can carry
    out such big projects," he said.

    TANAP will likely cost $7 billion and is expected to send 6 billion
    cubic meters (CBM) of gas to Turkey and 10 billion cbm to Europe
    by 2018.

    $17 billion Azeri investment

    The Azeri diplomat forecast that total Azeri investment into Turkey
    would reach around $17 billion by 2020, which would make Baku the
    biggest foreign investing country in Turkey. So far, the State Oil
    Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has initiated the Petkim
    Star Refinery, the Petkim Container Port, the Step Power Plant and the
    TANAP project. TANAP will be followed by the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline
    (TAP) project to carry Azeri natural gas to Greece and Italy.

    "These projects will make our relations much more important and will
    give an additional impetus to our ties," he said.

    September/21/2013

    http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/baku-urges-ankara-not-to-repeat-2009-mistake.aspx?pageID=238&nID=54852&NewsCatID=338

Working...
X