AZERBAIJANI, US LEADERS DISCUSS TURKEY-ARMENIA TIES
Agence France Presse
April 8, 2009 Wednesday 12:48 PM GMT
Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev has spoken to US President Barack
Obama amid growing concern in Baku over efforts to reconcile close
ally Turkey with arch-rival Armenia, Aliyev’s office said Wednesday.
The presidential administration said Obama called Aliyev on Tuesday
after a visit to Turkey where the US leader urged Turkey and Armenia to
"move forward" in talks to establish diplomatic ties and open their
shared border.
"The two presidents had a frank conversation during which they
expressed satisfaction at the successful development of Azerbaijan-US
relations," Aliyev’s administration said in a statement.
"Barack Obama informed the Azerbaijani leader about steps taken by
the United States concerning Turkey-Armenia relations. President
Ilham Aliyev brought the Azerbaijani state’s position on the issue
to the US president’s attention."
Top officials in Azerbaijan have expressed concern over reports that
Ankara and Yerevan will soon sign a landmark deal paving the way for
formal diplomatic ties and opening their shared border.
Baku has long insisted that any deal should be contingent on Armenian
concessions in the dispute over Nagorny Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian
enclave that broke away from Baku’s control during a war in the
early 1990s.
During a meeting of Azerbaijan’s security council on Monday, Aliyev
hinted that Baku could retaliate against Turkish moves to reconcile
with Armenia.
"We are observing ongoing changes in the region and necessary measures
will be taken," the Azeri Press Agency quoted Aliyev as saying.
"Our country has never interfered in the affairs of other countries
and we have no such intentions in the future. However it is our right
to pursue our policy in accordance with the situation in the region,"
he said.
The former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan is the starting point for
a key corridor of Western-backed pipelines carrying oil and gas from
the Caspian Sea to Europe, through Turkey.
Quoting officials in Baku, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported
last week that Azerbaijan would consider cutting gas supplies to
Turkey if Ankara ignored the Karabakh issue in its talks with Armenia.
Turkey has long backed Azerbaijan in the dispute, and linked the
closing of its border with Armenia in 1993 to the war over Karabakh.
Ankara has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia over
Yerevan’s campaign to have mass killings of Armenians under the
Ottoman Turks recognised as genocide.
But reconciliation efforts have gathered steam since President
Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit last year to Armenia, the first
by a Turkish leader.