TURKEY’S BABACAN TRAVELED TO ARMENIA BUT NOTHING WAS SIGNED
Tatul Hakobyan
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday April 16, 2009
Senior Azerbaijani diplomat in Yerevan for BSEC Council meeting
Yerevan – The Wall Street Journal and other influential newspapers
citing unnamed senior diplomats had reported that on April 16 Armenia
and Turkey "could" sign an agreement to establish diplomatic relations.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan was in fact in Yerevan today,
to participate in the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
(BSEC), but no document was signed with Armenia.
"I can say that there is no intention to sign today any document
on Armenian-Turkish relations," said Edward Nalbandian, Armenia’s
foreign minister, at a press conference following the BSEC meeting,
which he chaired. Armenian-Turkish "negotiations continue. We have
made progress and think that we can really resolve these issues in
the near future," he continued.
However, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia did not even
hold a separate meeting during Mr. Babacan’s visit. Instead, taking
the opportunity of being in Yerevan together, Mr. Babacan and the
foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, held a meeting. Of the 12
BSEC member states, only Armenia, Russia, and Turkey participated in
the meeting at the foreign minister level.
Iran admitted as a partner
Among the delegations at the BSEC meeting was one from Azerbaijan,
led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mamedkuliyev – who is married
to President Ilham Aliyev’s older sister. This was the first official
Azerbaijani delegation in Armenia in years. The six-month rotating
chairmanship of BSEC moves on May 1 from Armenia to Azerbaijan;
the ceremonial handoff took place today.
Ambassador Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, who was confirmed as BSEC’s
secretary general for a second term at this meeting, noted at the
press conference that two BSEC member states, Turkey and Azerbaijan,
have no diplomatic relations with another member state, Armenia. He
said one of the main decisions of the BSEC meeting was to grant
partner status to Iran.
"Iran is a country that was missing in the area," Mr. Chrysanthopoulos
said. "BSEC will establish cooperation with Iran in different
spheres. In particular, in agriculture, energy, and transport,"
he added.
Favoring linkage
Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister was asked about his government’s
position on Armenian-Turkish dialog. His government announces,
on the one hand, that it welcomes all steps that could lead to
the resolution of existing issues in the region. On the other hand,
Azerbaijan is opposed to the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border and
the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia.
"We follow the process with interest, and our position is that the
restoration of relations between Armenia and Turkey can only be linked
to the resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,"
Mr. Mamedkuliyev said in response, after making a ritual claim that
Azerbaijan does not interfere in the "domestic affairs" of other
countries and saying that Baku regards contacts between Armenia and
Turkey to be a matter for the two countries involved.
Mr. Mamedkuliyev said, "The development of relations between Armenia
and Turkey was in time interrupted and the main reason was the
occupation of Azerbaijani territory."
Turkey’s role over Karabakh
Abdullah Gul, the Turkish president, recently announced that
Turkey is participating in negotiations with Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Mr. Nalbandian was asked about the mechanism for Turkey’s
participation. He noted in response that the negotiations are being
mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, and specifically by the U.S.,
Russian, and French co-chairs of the Minsk Group. "That is the format
of the negotiations, and no other format exists. Turkey does not
play a role as a mediator in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict," he said.
The Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister said Baku welcomes the efforts
of any country toward the resolution of the conflict. "If there are
specific and realistic proposals, we are prepared to study them. The
continuation of the conflict gives no side an advantage; the conflict
must be resolved within the norms and principles of international
law as it exists. Turkey is a member of the Minsk Group and one of
the most important countries in the region," he said.
The president of Armenia, Serge Sargsian, received the participants
in the meeting of the BSEC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
Armenian leadership
Armenia is one of the founding members of BSEC and is concluding its
six-month terms as chairman-in-office. With Armenia in the chair,
Mr. Nalbandian said, more than 50 documents and two declarations were
signed through the organization.
"Over the past six months Armenia exerted efforts to move BSEC
forward through the growing challenges of the contemporary world in
the condition of deepening financial crisis" said Mr. Nalbandian.
The head of the Azerbaijani delegation said, "regional cooperation
will be successful if there is the atmosphere of peace, stability and
security. Therefore our attempts will go to increase the activity of
our organization to care about existing conflicts in the Black Sea
area. Unfortunately, we are having some situation which is not very
supportive for full regional cooperation," he said.
BSEC was launched as a regionally owned initiative, with Turkey’s
lead, in 25 June 1992 at the Istanbul Summit. The idea that stronger
economic cooperation among the Black Sea countries would enhance peace
and stability in the region was the underlying philosophy behind BSEC.