MEETING PLANNED FOR AZERBAIJANI AND TURKISH POLITICIANS: ANA VATAN PARTY
A. Huseynbala
Trend News Agency
Jan 8 2009
Azerbaijan
A meeting is planned for Azerbaijani and Turkish political parties.
"Depending on how events unfold, we may hold a conference," Azerbaijani
State Deputy and Ana Vatan Party Chairman Fazail Agamali told Trend
News on Jan. 7. "If the situation becomes serious, we will send
invitations to the parties of the Turkish Parliament."
A conference scheduled for late January 2009 in Baku on
"Turkish-Armenian Relations: Possible Expectations" has been
canceled. Members of the Azerbaijani and Turkish parliaments were to
take part in the event.
Armenian-Turkish relations have been severed since 1993 due to
Armenia’s "genocide" campaign and and forceful occupation of 20
percent of Azerbaijani territory. Turkish President Abdullah Gul
visited Yerevan on Sept. 6, 2008 after being invited by Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to watch a football match between the two
countries. Efforts have been made to normalize ties ever since.
Turkey has also acted as a mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan organized a meeting
between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Turkey to discuss
the issue in New York.
Agamali said his party is paying close attention to the negotiations
between Turkey and Armenia.
"We want the negotiations between these countries to be fruitful,"
he said. "But the differences between the previous government’s and
President Abdullah Gul’s views and the apology campaign launched by
some Turkish intelligentsia before Armenia have forced us to take an
expectant position."
The conference hopes to relieve the anxiety of the Azerbaijani and
Turkish people over Turkish-Armenian relations, he added.
"So far we have not held concrete discussions about the conference
with the parties of the Turkish parliament," Agamali said. "But I
do not think the political forces of our brotherly country will be
against the issue."
The pro-government Ana Vatan Party was founded in 1991. Two MPs
represent the party in the Azerbaijani parliament.