Turkish Forum

Category: Azerbaijan

  • Renowned Muslim superstar of Azeri origin to perform in Istanbul

    Renowned Muslim superstar of Azeri origin to perform in Istanbul

    The Muslim world’s biggest musical superstar, Sami Yusuf, has dropped into Istanbul to promote his latest work, “Salaam,” which features 16 songs, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

    Sami_Yusuf

    “It is a generous album. It gives message of peace, solidarity, love and, most of all, hope. These are eternal and permanent truths, values,” Yusuf said after landing in Istanbul on March 31, adding that the album had gained greater meaning in the wake of the changes in the Arab world.

    Yusuf, a British singer-songwriter of Azeri origin, said humanity was being forced to deal with big problems.

    “I don’t have a political personality; I consider problems in a humanistic matter. We have gone through the changes brought by the Arab Spring all together. In my opinion, this album gains meaning in this context because it talks about overcoming problems and difficulties,” he said, adding that “art should be pure.”

    He said he had composed the song “I am your hope” after the revolution in Egypt and that the song was related to youth but not a specific party or group.

    Yusuf said his music was considered as divine, rock or pop in the world but he preferred the definition “Spiritique.”

    “This is a word I have invented. The goal of my own music, which I define with this word, is to draw listeners to the spiritual world. No one can monopolize the spiritual world,” he said.

  • Turkish media outlets comment on closing of Yerevan-Istanbul flight

    Turkish media outlets comment on closing of Yerevan-Istanbul flight

    Azerbaijan, Baku, March 30 / Trend /

    Plane_Embraer_190

    Closing of the Yerevan-Istanbul flight is due to the bankruptcy of the Armenian “Armavia” Airline, which carried out the flight, the Turkish Hurrriyet newspaper reported on Saturday.

    Armenian airline due to its bankruptcy stops carrying out the flights to more than 100 countries, including Turkey, the newspaper reported.

    From April 1, direct Yerevan-Istanbul flight will not be carried out, Armenia News – NEWS.am. reported on Saturday.

    via Turkish media outlets comment on closing of Yerevan-Istanbul flight – Trend.Az.

  • Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey Sign Cooperation Plan

    Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey Sign Cooperation Plan

    The foreign ministers of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey have signed a wide-ranging plan to expand cooperation between their departments.

    Georgia’s Maia Panjikidze, Azerbaijan’s Elmar Mammadyarov, and Turkey’s Ahmet Davutoglu held talks in the Georgian port city of Batumi on March 28.

    At a joint press conference after the meeting, Panjikidze said the two-year cooperation plan would strengthen relations between the three countries.

    Mammadyarov said their cooperation was “an example for the whole region.” Davutoglu said the trilateral meeting was a “unique cooperation platform.”

    The first such trilateral foreign-ministerial meeting was held in Trabzon, Turkey, in June 2012.

    The next one is expected to be held in Azerbaijan later this year.

    Based on reporting by ITAR-TASS and Apsny.ge

    via Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey Sign Cooperation Plan.

  • David L. Phillips: Turkey and Armenia at Loggerheads

    David L. Phillips: Turkey and Armenia at Loggerheads

    Turkey and Armenia missed an historic opportunity to improve ties when Turkey refused to ratify the Protocols on the Establishment of Diplomatic and Bilateral Relations signed on October 10, 2009. Rather than rapprochement, Armenians are now fully mobilized to organize worldwide activities commemorating the one hundred year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2015. Armenia would never sacrifice gaining greater global recognition of genocide for cross-border cooperation with Turks. However, trade can still play a helpful role reducing tensions and creating positive momentum in Turkish-Armenian relations.

    More than a closed border, Turks and Armenians are divided by different perceptions of history. More than one million Armenians perished during the final years of the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. Turkey disputes these facts, referring to the events as “shared suffering.” Turkey demands a joint historical commission to address the “Armenian question.” The political impasse between Turkey and Armenia is compounded by Ankara’s linking of relations with Armenia to resolution of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh where Armenians and Azerbaijanis fought a brutal war displacing 600,000 people in the early 1990s.

    The governments of Turkey and Armenia may be at loggerheads, but Turks and Armenians are still engaging in economic diplomacy, working on cross-border activities beneath the radar. Commercial contact involves mostly “suitcase trade” involving consumer goods transported from Turkey through Georgia to Armenia.

    But bigger business is possible. Armenia could sell surplus electricity to Turkey which needs energy to power its economic boom. Armenia could also tap into Turkey’s state-of-the-art fiber optic cable to meet its growing demand for Internet. Railway service between Kars in Turkey and Gyumri in Armenia could resume when Turkey opens its border gate. In anticipation, Armenia could begin conforming the country’s Soviet-era railway gauge to Turkish and European standards.

    In addition, Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ) could be established to catalyze joint enterprises between Turks and Armenians. A QIZ is an industrial park and a free-trade zone, which is linked to a free-trade agreement with the United States. Goods qualify when partners contribute raw material, labor, or manufacturing. Kazan, an area in Armenia on the Turkish border, would be a suitable destination for joint ventures in textile and piece goods manufacturing.

    The QIZ should proceed with steps to relax restrictions on the surface transport of commercial goods. Armenian trucks are allowed to use Turkey as a transit country, but can’t off-load on Turkish soil. The same holds true for Turkish trucks transiting through Armenia. Trucks should be allowed to transfer goods destined for markets in the neighboring countries, with Turkey and Armenia identified as destinations in the export registry.

    Normalized travel and trade would also stimulate the tourist industry. Many Armenians are coming from Russia to cultural sites in Eastern Turkey. Allowing Armenian tourist buses to cross the Turkish-Armenian border would be a windfall for local business. Charter flights between the eastern Turkish city of Van and Yerevan would enhance commercial contact and a Turkish Airlines office in Yerevan would boost travel. The Ani Bridge across the Akhurian River, which symbolized the connection between Armenian civilization and the Anatolian plain, should be restored.

    A useful database is being prepared by the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council profiling opportunities and connecting potential business partners. Linkages could also be established between local chambers of commerce and mayors with the goal of establishing sister-city relationships and fostering trade and investment.

    Such civil society and private sector initiatives have intrinsic value. Moreover, they can also incentivize official diplomacy or serve as a safety net when diplomacy stalls. They are not, however, a substitute for official diplomacy.

    There is currently no contact between Turkish and Armenian officials. While the Turkey-Armenia protocols called for a “dialogue on the historical dimension,” Armenians balked when Turkey demanded a commission to determine whether the events of 1915 met the definition of genocide.

    Instead of trying to reinvent history, Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdoğan can make history through an executive order to open the border and normalize travel and trade as a step toward diplomatic relations. Bolder yet, he could submit the protocols on normalization and diplomatic relations to the Turkish parliament with his personal endorsement for ratification.

    With an eye on his legacy, Erdoğan could also call for parliament to repeal Article 301 of the penal code, which makes it a crime to “denigrate Turkishness” and is used to repress free the freedom of expression. Repealing regressive legislation would make Turks more free, and also benefit Turkey’s EU aspirations.

    Turkey’s moral authority is undermined by the government’s denial of the Armenian Genocide. On Remembrance Day, April 24, Erdoğan should apologize for what happened to Armenians during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. Reconciling with Armenia would help consolidate Turkey’s role as a regional power, as well as a force for good in the world.

    Mr. Phillips is Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights

    via David L. Phillips: Turkey and Armenia at Loggerheads.

    David L. Phillips

    Director, Program on Peace-building and Rights, Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights

  • Ballet “1001 nights” by Azerbaijani composer performed in Turkey

    Ballet “1001 nights” by Azerbaijani composer performed in Turkey

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    “1001 Arabian nights” ballet by prominent Azerbaijani composer Fikrat Amirov was perfomed in Samsun State Opera and Ballet under the 3rd Eskishehir National Opera and Ballet days organized by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

    Prepared by Georgian choreographer Nugzar Magalashvili, the ballet was performed by Turkish and Georgian ballet dancers.

    via Ballet “1001 nights” by Azerbaijani composer performed in Turkey – AzerNews.

  • Azerbaijan jealous as Armenia and Turkey are commencing Yerevan-Van flights

    Azerbaijan jealous as Armenia and Turkey are commencing Yerevan-Van flights

    Azerbaijan accuses Turkey of supporting Armenia. “Azerbaijan has stated on many occasions that we approach sensitively to any contact with Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, particularly when these contacts are made by friendly countries,” Ali Hasanov, Head of the Department on Social Political Issues of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, said, commenting on the commencing of Yerevan-Van flights, APA reports.

    According to him, official Baku views such contact as support and strengthening to Armenia.

    “We are twice as jealous when it is done by countries we share strategic interests with.  It is not only our opinion, but also that of the Turkish society,” he said.

    Ali Hasanov noted that recently when the issue on opening of borders between Turkey and Armenia was raised, it did not find support among the Turkish society, the political parties and the Turkish government. “We assess the opening of Yerevan-Van flight as a certain level of support to Armenia,” he said.

    via Azerbaijan jealous as Armenia and Turkey are commencing Yerevan-Van flights | Public Radio of Armenia.