Azeri daily says president’s Cyprus remarks success of diplomacy

Zerkalo, Baku
17 Apr 04

The sensational statement of President Ilham Aliyev, who said that if
the Greek Cypriot side votes against the unification of the island in
the forthcoming referendum, Azerbaijan will be one of the first
countries to recognize the independence of the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus, has caused a mixed reaction precisely in our country,
as was expected.

[Passage omitted: Minor details]

It cannot be ruled out that the statement of the Azerbaijani president
was a logical continuation of the involvement of the Turkish public in
a campaign against the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border. The
campaign was launched by [the Azerbaijani TV company] ANS with the
approval of our authorities at the highest level. Since this statement
of Aliyev demonstrated his firm position to almost the whole of the
Western world, it will be difficult for the [Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip] Erdogan government to explain to the Turkish public,
which has strong nationalistic moods in a good sense, the necessity of
opening the border with Armenia for the sake of Turkey’s membership of
the EU.

We believe that after this statement by Aliyev, Erdogan practically
cannot make further concessions on the Cyprus issue for the sake of
Turkey’s membership of the EU. The opposition is waiting for such a
mistake by Erdogan. The army, which is gradually losing its political
influence due to the reforms carried out at the request of the
European Union, will not remain indifferent. Erdogan can be simply
accused of betraying national interests, as was the case with [former
Prime Minister Necmettin] Erbakan who was accused of an attempt to
abolish secularism in Turkey. In a word, it cannot be ruled out that
the statement was an attempt to force the Erdogan government to show
more respect.

The aforesaid gives analysts grounds to believe that the Azerbaijani
president’s statement meets the country’s interests and shows that
Baku can take effective steps on the diplomatic front.