Category: Azerbaijan

MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) – An important reason for Turkey’s decision to sign a deal on restoring diplomatic ties with Armenia is that it feels cheated by the West and wants to secure its economic interests, a Russian analyst said on Monday.

Turkey and Armenia signed on Saturday historic accords on restoring diplomatic relations and opening borders. The documents have yet to be ratified by the country’s parliaments, and face fierce opposition from nationalist parties in both countries.

Mikhail Aleksandrov, head of the Caucasus department at the Institute of CIS Studies, said: “one important consideration for Turkey was to advance economic ties with Armenia, because the West has deceived Turkey.”

“Turkey is not being let into the EU, the United States created problems with Iraq, and problems have arisen with transit via Georgia because Saakashvili started a war [with South Ossetia], and the Caspian pipeline passes through Georgia.”

“In other words, U.S. policy has jeopardized Turkey’s economic interests,” he said.

Aleksandrov said that because of these circumstances, Turkey proposed a plan of regional integration with the participation of the three Caucasus states, Russia and Turkey.

“However, it first has to normalize relations with Armenia. So as a first step, Turkey has agreed to lift the blockade,” he said.

On the issue of ratification, “the opposition is very strong, even within the ruling parties, both in Turkey and Armenia.”

The European Armenian Federation for Justice has spoken out against the accords, which it says do not take into account issues such as the Turkish genocide of Armenians, recognition of the borders between Armenia and Turkey, and the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.

Turkey has demanded that that Yerevan drop its campaign to have the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 internationally recognized as genocide.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support for Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim, Turkic-speaking ally of Ankara, following a bloody conflict over Nagorny Karabakh between the two republics.

The region in Azerbaijan, which has a largely Armenian population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet republics since the late 1980s and is de facto independent. Azerbaijan strongly opposes normalization of ties between Ankara and Yerevan before the Nagorny Karabakh conflict is resolved.

Armenia and Turkey agreed to a “roadmap” to normalize their relations under Swiss mediation this April. The draft pact between the countries was backed by the United States and European Union.

Turkey and Armenia signed a landmark peace accord on Saturday (10 October) to restore ties and open their shared border after a century of hostility stemming from the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces in the First World War. But the next day a speech by Turkey’s prime minister made the agreement seem problematic.

[ 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 “.