[ 11 Oct 2009 13:51 ]
Baku-APA. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a press statement on the signing of protocols in Switzerland on October 10 by Turkey and Armenia to establish and develop diplomatic relations.
The statement sent to the APA by the ministry’s press service reads:
“The position of the Azerbaijani side on this issue remains unchanged. In 1993 Turkey closed its shared borders with Armenia in protest against the illegal occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia, and Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan. As a result of Armenian aggression, 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands were occupied, about one million Azerbaijani citizens underwent ethnic cleansing, became refugees and internally displaced persons, and cultural and historical heritage of Azerbaijan was vandalized in the occupied lands.
Since then, Armenia has refused to abide by numerous resolutions and documents made by the UN Security Council and General Assembly, OSCE, PACE, the OIC and other international organizations which condemn the aggressive policy of Armenia, demand the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied Azerbaijani territories and the return of IDPs to their homes, and no progress has been made towards removal of the consequences of the aggression.
In this regard, Azerbaijan refers to the numerous statements by Turkish senior officials, especially Prime Minister Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in particular his speech in Azerbaijan’s parliament on May 14, 2009 that “Turkey closed its border with Armenia after occupation of Azerbaijani lands. And, borders can be opened after the removal of the occupation. We will never take a step forward from this point as long as our Azerbaijani brothers are not satisfied. These issues are interrelated and can not be considered separately”, and his statement in Iftar with the Turkish media representatives on September 17, 2009 that “we can not open the gates before the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is settled … We can not take this step without solving this problem”
As we have repeatedly stated, to establish relations with other states is, in principle, her sovereign right. However, the normalization of Turkey’s relations with Armenia before the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied Azerbaijani territories directly contradicts the national interests of Azerbaijan, and casts a shadow on the spirit of the friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey which is based on historical roots. Given the importance of opening all borders and links in the region, Azerbaijan believes that the unilateral opening of the Turkish-Armenian borders would call into question the architecture of regional peace and security “.
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