ANKARA KEEN ON FACILITATING GARABAGH SETTLEMENT
Assa-Irada
Sept 10 2008
Azerbaijan
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan intends to discuss the Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh conflict with his Armenian and Azerbaijanian
counterpart in late September. The Garabagh conflict is also Turkeys
problem, Babacan said, stressing that while in Yerevan, he had
forwarded to the Armenian foreign minister a proposal on a meeting
of the three countries foreign ministers and informed him that the
initiative has been accepted. After meeting with my Azerbaijani
counterpart and enquiring about his view, we will be able to hold
such a meeting on the sidelines of the UN [General Assembly] session
in New York, told a local TV channel.
Babacan said that peace talks are to intensify after Azerbaijans
October 15 presidential election. In reference to the Turkish-Armenian
relations, Babacan said outstanding differences cannot be ironed
out unilaterally. Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian has
told CNN Turk TV channel that if efforts are being made to normalize
ties between Ankara and Yerevan, no pre-conditions should be laid
out. If we seriously and sincerely want to make amends, we should not
talk about any conditions, as restoring relations between Turkey and
Armenia would benefit both countries. Peace should not be expected in
the region until the Ankara-Yerevan relations are rectified, because
a full integration of the region is impossible with the border being
closed. Armenia and Turkey have been at odds and the border between
the two countries has been closed since 1993 on Ankaras insistence
due to Armenias policy of occupation against Azerbaijan and its
claims that Ottoman Turks committed mass killings in the early
20th century. Nalbandian pledged that if Turkish-Armenian relations
normalize, Armenia will not put forth its genocide claims and all
unresolved issues will be solved through negotiations. Yury Merzlyakov,
Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group (MG), a team of diplomats from
the United States, Russia and France brokering Garabagh peace talks,
has confirmed that Turkish, Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers
are due to meet. He said, however, that the date of the meeting has
not been scheduled yet. Merzlyakov said the possibility of such a
ministerial was discussed by the Azerbaijani and Armenian ministers
during their meeting in Moscow on August 1. The three ministers meeting
is a good idea and the co-chairs would only welcome that, the diplomat
said. He emphasized that it was wrong to cite possible changes in the
format of peace talks. But Turkish President Abdullah Guls mediation
[of talks] between the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders could be
beneficial for the resolution of the Garabagh conflict. Merzlyakov
added that the MG co-chairs are expected to visit the region.