KARABAKH MEDIATOR IN ANKARA TO ‘DISCUSS’ TURKISH-AZERI DIPLOMATIC TRAFFIC

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ANKARA (Today’s Zaman)-One of the three diplomats heading international
efforts to mediate a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was
in Ankara on Monday for talks on the Karabakh peace process with the
country’s Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, reported the Turkish
Today’s Zaman newspaper.

Ambassador Bernard Fassier of France met with Foreign Ministry
Undersecretary Ertugrul Apaka, who sought to convey his country’s
ongoing support for the OSCE Minsk Group, the international body
mediating between Armenia and Azerbaijan for a resolution to the
Karabakh conflict.

"There have recently been many visits from Turkey to
Azerbaijan." Fassier said at a press conference in Baku Saturday
before flying to Ankara. "We will discuss them."

Fassier and his Russian and US counterparts co-chairing the Minsk
Group met with the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Prague on
May 7 for what they later called constructive and positive talks.

According to Zaman, which cited anonymous sources "close to the talks,"
Monday’s meeting between Apakan and Fassier focused on "exchanging
views" on the current stages of the Karabakh peace talks following
the Prague meeting between President’s Serzh Sarkisian of Armenia
and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

"During the meeting with Fassier, the Turkish side reiterated its
continued support of the OSCE Minsk Group as a permanent member
involved in the peace process since its inception, the unnamed source
was quoted by Zaman as saying.

Fassier’s visit to Ankara comes as Turkey, a non-actor in the
Karabakh conflict, has sought to boost its role in the peace process,
conditioning the normalization of its relations with Armenia on a
resolution to the Karabakh conflict.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan explicitly reaffirmed
that linkage during his visit to Azerbaijan last week. He traveled
to Russia on May 16 where he sought a greater role for his country in
the Karabakh negotiation process in talks with Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin.

Armenia has criticized Erdogan for making the normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relations conditional on a Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement, saying that such statements could hamper both the
Armenian-Azerbaijani, as well as the Armenian-Turkish negotiations.

President Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian
reacted to Erdogan’s statements as they separately met in Yerevan with
Brian Fall, Britain’s special representative for the South Caucasus.

In a written statement Sarkisian said that "any Turkish attempt
to interfere in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem can
only harm that process." While Nalbanidan, in a separate statement
said Erdogan’s stance "precludes further progress in the ongoing
Turkish-Armenian fence-mending negotiations."

Fassier echoed those points when speaking to reporters in Azerbaijan
on Sunday. "The normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations should not
be confused with the Karabakh conflict," the French diplomat said in
Baku. "These are different and parallel processes."