ARMENIA, TURKEY SIGNED NO PAPER ON BORDER OPENING
AzerNews Weekly
April 22 2009
Azerbaijan
Armenia and Turkey have signed no documents on restoring bilateral
relations and re-opening their shared border, but this may happen in
the foreseeable future, Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian
said after meeting his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, in Yerevan
last week.
Nalbandian said talks between the two countries` diplomats are
underway. Some progress has been achieved in negotiations, but the
sides have not yet reached the stage of signing any agreements. "But
we hope that, indeed, we will be able to solve the existing problems
between us in the near future."
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev, who was
visiting Yerevan, said talks between Turkey and Armenia were an
internal affair of the two countries, however, Azerbaijan is interested
in the developments unfolding in line with its national interests.
"We assess the talks between Turkey and Armenia as these two countries`
own affair, and our position is that we do not interfere with the
internal affairs of any countries. However, taking into account the
Azerbaijan-Armenia relations, we are closely watching the ongoing
developments. Our stance is that restoration of the Armenia-Turkey
relations should be linked strictly to the resolution of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict."
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 due to its occupation
of Azerbaijani territories and its claims regarding the alleged World
War I-era genocide. However, there have been signs of normalization
in Ankara-Yerevan ties of late, and the two countries` officials have
held several rounds of talks. Recent media reports alleging that the
Turkish-Armenian border is expected to re-open soon have sparked an
outcry in Azerbaijan.
Mammadguliyev and Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan visited
Yerevan on Thursday to attend a ministerial of the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation Organization (BSEC). Azerbaijan participated at the event
because the rotating presidency in the group was transferred to it
from Armenia.
However, an Azerbaijani political leader has dismissed the possibility
of opening the Turkey-Armenia border.
"In my opinion, Turkey will not open its border with Armenia," Isa
Gambar, chairman of the opposition Musavat party, told Turkish ATV
channel. "Ankara has merely conducted a test to determine `what if
we opened the border with Armenia` and weighed the reactions."
According to Gambar, the developments that have taken place in recent
days have helped Turkey as its government has managed to draw certain
conclusions from the test it conducted.
The Musavat leader said the border opening would be acceptable only
after the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict has been
resolved. Moreover, for this to be possible, Armenia must relinquish
its territorial and World War I-era genocide claims against Turkey.
Meanwhile, the International Crisis Group (ICG), an organization
working to prevent conflicts worldwide, said Turkey should open
its border with Armenia without expecting a settlement to the Upper
Garabagh conflict. In a report that reviewed Ankara-Yerevan relations,
it maintained that the unresolved status of the long-standing dispute
should not impede the opening of the border.
"The politicized debate whether to recognize as genocide the
destruction of much of the Ottoman Armenian population and the
stalemated Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh should
not halt momentum," the report urged.
The Brussels-based security think tank said, further, that "Turkey and
Armenia are close to settling a dispute that has long roiled Caucasus
politics, isolated Armenia and cast a shadow over Turkey`s European
Union ambition."
Tabib Huseynov, the ICG`s representative on Azerbaijan said,
while commenting on the report, that keeping the border open
currently appeared more acceptable because if Armenia fails to take
a constructive position on the Garabagh problem, Turkey could use
the levers it will gain to influence Yerevan`s stance.
"I am talking about the possibility of increasing transit and visa fees
at the border. This option is actually a more civilized one, is more
comprehensible for the rest of the world and, at the same time, one
that is more compliant with the interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan."
Huseynov said another recommendation of the ICG concerned the
involvement of third parties in peace talks.
"In particular, the United States should not take any actions that
would derail these talks. If the American administration uses the
`genocide` term with regard to the historical developments, this would
put a big cross on the improvements in Turkey-Armenia relations. To
prevent this from happening, we recommend that the European Union
countries and the U.S. refrain from such words."