Turkish Press
Sept 13 2008

Restoring Trust With Azerbaijan

Published: 9/13/2008
BY MURAT YETKIN

RADIKAL- There was little official Azeri reaction to President
Abdullah Gul’s visit to Armenia last week to watch a soccer match,
from either President Ilham Aliyev or any other Azeri official.
Despite the reactions and uneasiness in the Azeri public, Baku acted
like a real ally on this issue: when questioned, Azeri Ambassador to
Turkey Zakir Hashimov would only say that they respected the
president’s decision. Actually Turkey acted carefully as well. The
best example of this was seen with the Turkish delegation to Yerevan
preceding Gul carrying equipment. Gul’s official car, his escort
vehicles and equipment for security and protocol purposes were carried
via Georgia, through a 600-kilometer detour.

There, the aim was to give the same message to both Azerbaijan and
Armenia: Ankara closed the Armenian border to protest Upper Karabagh’s
occupation by Armenians, and it won’t use the border even for security
purposes, unless the situation changes there. Yet Ankara heard
comments from Azeri politicians and newspapers such as ‘Farewell to
Turkey’ on the day Gul visited Armenia, because Turkey has very
special relations with Azerbaijan. As Gul took a bold step in
relations with Armenia and gave Yerevan a chance to make certain
corrections in its foreign policy in line with international law, it
should also make efforts not to damage its relations with Azerbaijan.

Besides meetings to discuss such issues as a proposed Caucasus
stability and cooperation platform, Armenia, and relations with the
US, Gul will also hold a press conference while visiting Baku. Gul is
running the risk of Azeri reporters asking tough questions, and will
work to dispel the Azeri public’s doubts about Turkey’s politics. This
is the right move. Turkey should help to strengthen both Azerbaijan
and Georgia not only out of friendship, but also for its own
interests.

I previously wrote that when he got back from Yerevan, Gul said that
actually he had decided to go to Armenia before it was officially
announced. Indeed, Gul waited for Deputy Foreign Undersecretary Unal
Cevikoz, whom he sent to Yerevan to officially tell his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sarkisian he would visit, to come back to Ankara on
the evening of September 3. Gul said that he decided to pay the visit
a week earlier, but announced it later. It might be interesting to
review a series of incidents from that time.

I went to Yerevan to interview Sarkisian on August 25. A high-ranking
official from the Cankaya Presidential Palace phoned me on August 26
to ask me if I could deliver a message from Gul. In the message, Gul
delivered his greetings and good will and said he would be glad to
meet Sarkisian in Astana. So the two presidents met in the Kazakh
capital Astana, and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev even translated for
them when they talked without even sitting down, after Sarkisian’s
op-ed invitation was published in the Wall Street Journal.

The fact that he gave his kind regards on the occasion of a Turkish
journalist’s interview was of course no indication of a decision.
Turkey wasn’t a country lacking contacts in Armenia, as it has many
channels. But this greeting showed that the good will, which started
when the invitation weren’t rejected, was stronger now. Similarly,
Sarkisian said during the interview that he considered even that a
part of the improved atmosphere. So this situation showed that the
mutual good will was understood. I delivered Sarkisian’s greetings and
message of good will to Gul in our meeting in Ankara the next day, on
August 28. Gul said that he considered Sarkisian’s interview an
example of how contributions can be made to solving the problem and
dispelling misunderstandings at every level. So it seems the decision
had become ripe, and the next day the decision was made at the Cankaya
Presidential Palace.