TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR JOINT MEETING WITH AZERI AND ARMENIAN COUNTERPARTS
by Grace Annan
World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
September 11, 2008
Yesterday, Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Babacan announced
that he would like to hold a joint meeting with his counterparts
from Armenia and Azerbaijan to improve diplomatic relations between
the three neighbouring countries, whose problems, he said, are often
related. Babacan stated that the visit of Turkish President Abdullah
Gul Enhanced Coverage LinkingAbdullah Gul -Search using: Biographies
Plus News News, Most Recent 60 Days to Armenia on 6 September (see
Turkey – Armenia: 8 September 2008: ) had given him the idea. The
Armenian government has reportedly already agreed to the Turkish
minister’s tentative plans to hold the meeting at the fringes of the
UN General Assembly meeting (16 September-1 October).
Significance:Relations between Armenia and Turkey have recently
improved to a dramatic extent, and Turkey is now keen to get Azerbaijan
on board, given the country’s traditional alliance with Turkey and
its status as arch-enemy of Armenia. The official line of the Azeri
government is that the recent thaw in Armenian-Turkish relations is a
bilateral matter and will not affect the relations between Turkey and
Azerbaijan in any way. Yet behind the scenes, the Azeri government
could be very worried about being left behind in this blossoming
diplomatic relationship between Yerevan and Ankara. Therefore, Azeri
politicians may agree to hold a joint meeting with their Armenian
and Turkish counterparts later this month. Gul is visiting the Azeri
President Ilkham Aliev today to discuss the aftermath of the war in
Georgia as well as energy and business relations, and the Turkish
president will certainly bring up the proposed tripartite alliance
and meeting.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
