ARMY LINKS BORDER OPENING WITH KARABAKH
Hurriyet
April 30 2009
Turkey
ISTANBUL – Chief of Staff says borders with Armenia should be opened
after Armenia’s withdrawal from occupied Azerbaijani territories. He
also criticizes speculations of specific requests from the US about
Afghanistan and Iraq, and says, ‘The US did not put forward any
specific request’
Armenia’s borders should be opened simultaneously with the withdrawal
of Armenian forces from occupied Azeri territories, Chief of Staff
Gen. Ä°lker BaÅ~_bug said in a press conference yesterday, revealing
the military’s views for the first time.
He also said the United States did not make any specific requests
from Ankara on Afghanistan or Iraq, but added that Turkey might
increase its troop levels in Afghanistan provided that it maintains
the same mission.
Responding to questions from the press on the possibility of opening
the borders with Armenia, BaÅ~_bug recalled Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s statements that opening of the borders will be done
simultaneously with the withdrawal of Armenian force from occupied
Azerbaijani territory. "We share this view," said BaÅ~_bug.
Turkey’s grandeur BaÅ~_bug said the meeting he had with National
Security Adviser James Jones, during U.S. President Barack Obama’s
visit to Turkey in early April was followed with talks with the
U.S. chief of staff last Saturday. He criticized speculations that U.S
officials are coming to Turkey for specific requests and said: "Maybe
we are not aware of Turkey’s grandeur. Turkey is being approached
because there is a willingness to know what Turkey thinks and how
Turkey evaluates developments."
With special emphasis on the fact that there had been an exchange
of views between both officials, BaÅ~_bug said, "The U.S. did not
put forward any specific requests as far as withdrawal of its forces
from Iraq."
BaÅ~_bug pointed out that the responsibility fell upon the Iraqi
central government, as well as the northern Iraqi administration
to fight the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. "The local
administration’s active involvement in the elimination of the PKK is
imperative. We must have concrete results this year," he said. BaÅ~_bug
said Turkey grasped a historic opportunity this year to finish off
the PKK.
On Afghanistan, BaÅ~_bug said Turkey might increase its troop presence
in Afghanistan when it will again assume the command of NATO forces in
Kabul. Explaining that Turkey currently has 800 infantry soldiers based
in Kabul as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance
Force, or ISAF, BaÅ~_bug said that it will be Turkey’s turn to assume
the command of NATO forces in Kabul, which includes French and Italian
troops. But as Italy and France are planning to move their forces to
the south and east, there will be a vacuum. Although there will be a
request to other alliance members to fill the vacuum, BaÅ~_bug said
Turkey might as well picture an increase in its troop level. BaÅ~_bug
said the Turkish contingent could be boosted after discussions with
the bloc, but did not elaborate on numbers.
He said Turkish soldiers did not and would not take part in security
operations against Islamic insurgents or drug traffickers. "Our
mission will be strictly the same: to ensure security in Kabul and
its environs," the general said.
Turkey, Syria drill BaÅ~_bug also dismissed Israel’s reaction
to a joint drill involving Turkish and Syrian soldiers. Israeli
Defense Minister Ehud Barak called this week’s exercise a worrisome
development. BaÅ~_bug said he was "not concerned by Israel’s reaction,"
and Turkey wasn’t seeking any other country’s consent.
The drill, the first-ever between Turkey and Syria, ends Wednesday and
marks improvement in once strained ties between both countries. Turkey
has long been Israel’s closest ally in the Muslim world, but their
ties deteriorated during the Gaza war over casualties among Palestinian
civilians. Their military links have remained intact.
The historical Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The issue of Nagorno-Karabakh
goes back to the conflict from February 1988 to May 1994, in the
small ethnic enclave in southwestern Azerbaijan, between local ethnic
Armenians backed by Yerevan against the state of Azerbaijan. Both
countries were formerly part of the Soviet Union. Ethnic violence
broke out within the statelet after the autonomous parliament voted
for Nagorno-Karabakh to be reunited with Armenia in 1988. Full-scale
fighting erupted in the late winter of 1992. In the spring of 1993,
Armenian forces captured regions outside the enclave itself, and by
the end of the war in 1994, the Armenians were in full control of
most of the enclave and also held and currently control approximately
9 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory outside the area.