AZERBAIJAN’S CONSUL GENERAL IN KARS BLASTS PRO-ARMENIAN MAYOR

Today, Azerbaijan
Aug. 16, 2006

A senior Azerbaijani diplomat was reported on Wednesday to have
denounced the mayor of the northeastern Turkish town of Kars for
publicly advocating the reopening of Turkey’s border with Armenia.

Hasan Zeynalov, Azerbaijan’s consul general in Kars, was quoted
by the Day.az news service as branding Mayor Naif Alibeyoglu as a
leading member of pro-Armenian forces in Turkey that stand for an
unconditional normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan.

Those forces are acting "to the detriment of not only Azerbaijan but
Turkey," he said.

Zeynalov also complained that despite his "repeated conversations"
with Alibeyoglu the latter remains adamant in believing that the
Turkish frontier should lift its economic embargo imposed on Armenia
in 1993, at the height of the war with Azerbaijan, out of solidarity
with Azerbaijan.

Alibeyoglu has for years expressed this view in interviews with Turkish
and Western media, arguing that cross-border commerce with Armenia
would breathe a new life into Kars and other economically depressed
parts of eastern Turkey. Kars is less than a hundred kilometers away
from the Armenian frontier.

Turkey was reportedly close to heeding U.S. calls for an unconditional
reopening of the border three years ago but backed off after strong
protests from Azerbaijan. Turkish leaders have said it will remain
closed as long as the Nagorno Karabakh conflict remains unresolved.

"For us, the main thing is the position of Turkey’s leadership,
which is well known," said Zeynalov. "Turkey is the closest ally of
Azerbaijan and will always support us."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress