AZERBAIJANI MPS PROTEST AGAINST TURKISH PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO ARMENIA

Trend News Agency
Sept 4 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 4 September / Trend News corr. I.Alizade / The
Azerbaijani MPs protest against the Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s
Armenia visit.

" Turkey establishes relations with Armenia not for its own will,
but for the will of the European Union (EU), the United States and
other foreign countries," MP Sabir Rustamkhanli, the chairman of the
opposition Civil Solidarity Party (CSP) told Trend News on 4 September.

President Gul will leave for Armenia to watch a football match between
Armenia and Turkey to be held in Yerevan on 6 September.

There are no any diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey
with Armenia-Turkey border being closed since 1993 at the initiative
of official Ankara. Ankara calls on Armenia to give up the policy of
recognition of "Armenian genocide" allegedly committed during Ottoman
Empire on the international level, to recognize Turkey’s borders and
free occupied lands of Azerbaijan.

According to Rustamkhanli, Armenians do not take any step as a result
of policy pursued by Turkey. Such condition will create serious
problems for Azerbaijan, the MP said.

Turkey is a big state and should keep its promise. Processes in
Caucasus showed that the Turkish foreign policy was hands of weak
statesmen. In this case, relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey will
cool and Azerbaijan will lose its faith to Turkey. At the same time,
believe Turkey’s promise reduces. Anybody cannot insure that if some
powerful forces dictate anything, Turkey will not take this step,"
Rustamkhanli said.

Official Ankara must not forget events Armenia committed against
Turkish and Azerbaijani people, MP Gular Ahmadova, representative of
the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) told Trend News.

"You should not forget lessons of the history," Ahmadova said.

According to the MP, at present Armenia is holding propaganda against
Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well.

"Despite this, Gul’s Armenia visit cannot break up relations between
Azerbaijan and Turkey. I am as most of Azerbaijanis, met the news on
Gul’s Armenia visit with regret," Ahmadova said.

Panah Huseyn, member of the opposition Musavat MP group believes
that it is impossible to assess unambiguously the Turkish President’s
Armenia visit: "It is a too risky visit."