TURKISH FM ISSUES WARNING TO ARMENIAN LEADER
AzerNews Weekly
Feb 18 2009
Azerbaijan
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan has issued a terse response to
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian over his recent statement that
affirmed Yerevan`s territorial claims against friendly Azerbaijan.
Sarkisian alleged in a recent meeting with representatives of the
pro-government Prosperous Armenia party that Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh,
an Azerbaijani region Armenia has been occupying for many years, does
not belong to Azerbaijan and that there was allegedly no legal ground
for Garabagh`s being Azerbaijani territory. Baku labeled Sarkisian`s
statement as baseless.
The Turkish minister warned that when talking about Upper Garabagh,
Sarkisian should be careful to the greatest extent. "Armenia should
pay attention to the statements it is making in the course of peace
talks and put an end to its utterances that could harm the negotiating
process."
Babacan said further that Turkish President Abdullah Gul had called
for giving an incentive to Garabagh settlement during talks held with
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
in Moscow February 12-13. Ankara assured the Russian leadership that
it was ready to make an all-rounded contribution to the peace efforts.
Upper Garabagh has been occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire
ended hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted
about a million Azeris out of their homes. Years of peace talks have
brought few tangible results.