FOREIGN MINISTER DAVUTOGLU CALLS AZERBAIJAN ‘STRATEGIC PARTNER’

Today’s Zaman
May 27 2009
Turkey

Turkey and Azerbaijan are not only ordinary allies and neighbors,
they are also two strategic partners, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
said on Tuesday during an official visit to Baku.

Davutoglu arrived in the Azerbaijani capital late on Monday when
he flew from Damascus with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar
Mammadyarov. The two ministers had participated in the 36th session
of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC) held in the Syrian capital.

In Turkey, everybody has different political thoughts, however,
everybody attaches importance to relations with Azerbaijan, Davutoglu
said on Tuesday at a joint press conference following talks with
Mammadyarov, the Anatolia news agency reported. "Turkey and Azerbaijan
are not two ordinary friend, neighbor and brother countries, they
are at the same time two strategic partners.

One of the fundamental foreign policy priorities which is embraced by
everybody in Turkey — no matter what political thought those [people]
have — is the existing strategic partnership with Azerbaijan,"
Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the Cihan news agency.

The minister, whose visit to Baku is his second official visit upon
being appointed to his current post earlier this month, underlined
that nobody should have doubts about Turkey’s sensitivities concerning
Azerbaijan.

"Our Azerbaijani siblings should know that Turkey will be by the
side of Azerbaijan in the future as well, as it has been in history,"
Davutoglu said. "Our message intended for the actors in the region,
particularly intended for Armenia, is very open and clear. The region
should now be cleansed of occupations, stresses and high tensions,"
he added, in an apparent reference to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

The way of resolving frozen conflicts in the region passes through
setting bilateral, multilateral and all kinds of relations oriented
toward resolution in motion, Davutoglu said, adding: "Past incidents
showed that frozen problems are like bombs ready to explode in our
hands and have the potential of increasing regional tensions. Now, the
time has come to get rid of these bombs which are ready to explode."

Turkey, in every platform, has been voicing the need to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Davutoglu said, stressing that Turkey
supports the resolution of the conflict within the framework of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while also calling on the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk
Group of countries, mediating talks between Yerevan and Baku to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, to intensify their efforts.

Mammadyarov said they had reviewed bilateral relations between the
countries and that the relationship between the two neighbors has
been continuing well. He expressed confidence for the future relations
between Ankara and Baku.

Mammadyarov said his country is not satisfied with the trade turnover
level of $2 billion between Turkey and Azerbaijan: "We also discussed
cooperation in the fields of energy, economy and culture. Our countries
have signed around 150 documents in total, but we don’t have to stop
at what has been achieved."