Baku. Lachin Sultanova–APA. Turkey’s ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic held a press conference resuming 2008. The ambassador called it very important year from the view of development of Turkey-Azerbaijan relationship, APA reports. The diplomat said the two countries had perfect political relations embodied ten meetings at the level of presidents and prime ministers and 30 ministerial visits this year. Speaking about the economic relations Kilic said trade turnover between the two countries reached 2.5 million dollars. He reminded about the successful cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan in the transnational oil and gas projects and said Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway would be opened in 2010 which would lay a road from China to London.
The diplomat said outgoing year was a year of jubilees for both Azerbaijan and Turkey. This year was a year of 90th anniversary of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and its parliament and army, 85th anniversary of Republic of Turkey, 90th anniversary of establishing of the Caucasian Islamic Army and its arrival in Azerbaijan and liberation of Baku. The ambassador said the Ottoman Empire, living its final days, sent eight thousand troops to Azerbaijan and more than 1200 Turkish soldiers died in the battles for Azerbaijan.
Kilic said Turkey wanted a soonest solution to the Nagorno karabakh conflict and would always support Azerbaijan in this issue. Touching on the campaign of apology to Armenians, the ambassador said the Turkish nation did nothing to apologize and would not apologize to anyone. He said those who joined the campaign were wrong.