TURKEY HAILS STRATEGIC TIES WITH AZERBAIJAN

ey-hails-strategic-ties-with-azerbaijan/
May 27th, 2009

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

"Turkey and Azerbaijan are not two ordinary friend, neighbor and
brother countries, they are at the same time two strategic partners,"
Davutoglu said, adding that this relationship is a fundamental foreign
policy priority "embraced by everybody in Turkey."

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.

The Turkish Foreign Minister 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.

Davutoglu underlined that there should be no 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."