TURKEY TO USE SECURITY COUNCIL TO LINK KARABAKH WITH ARMENIA TALKS
-use-security-council-to-link-karabakh-with-armeni a-talks/
June 15th, 2009
ANKARA -Ankara will use the UN Security Council to try and link
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to the ongoing US backed efforts to
normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia, Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday, the Azeri Trend news agency reported.
A non-actor in the Karabakh conflict, Turkey has been seeking to boost
its role in the peace process by conditioning its own negotiations with
Armenia to a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict currently
being mediated by the US, France and Russia through the OSCE Minsk
Group.
Turkey assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security
Council from Russia for one month on June 1. It was elected a
non-permanent member in October 2008.
"Turkey favors discussions over matters of international interest and
importance including the Karabakh conflict. We want Armenia-Azerbaijan
talks to be fruitful," Davutoglu told the Azeri Trend News Agency,
in response to a question asking whether Turkey would address the
issue in the UN Security Council.
According to Trend, Davutoglu said that negotiations to establish
normal relations between Armenia and Turkey are not only limited
within the scope of the South Caucasus, but they also impact
Turkey-U.S. relations.
"This is not right. Our relations with Armenia must not influence our
relations with the U.S.," he was quoted by Trend as saying. "There
is a need for progress and development in the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to normalize the situation in the region."
"We also work on this issue within the OSCE Minsk Group. During my
Washington visit I discussed it with U.S. officials and we concluded
that our common task is to contribute to the resolution of the conflict
in every way possible."
The Minsk Group warned Ankara in May to drop its efforts to link the
two unrelated issues. It said, through its French representative,
Bernard Fassier, that linking the Karabakh peace process with the
normalization of Armenia-Turkish relations can jeopardize the new
momentum in the Karabakh talks.
Davutoglu’s remarks come despite repeated warnings by Washington and
the Minsk Group that Ankara must not link the two unrelated issues. The
newly confirmed U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs, Philip Gordon, announced in Yerevan on June 9 that
Turkey would need to drop its renewed linkage between the reopening of
the Turkish-Armenian border and a resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
"Turkey-Armenia normalization would benefit Turkey, it would benefit
Armenia and it would benefit the entire region. Because of that we
don’t think it should be linked to anything else," he said, stressing
that normalization "should proceed within a reasonable time frame."
That "means the process can’t be infinite," he said, adding that
Washington is closely watching regional developments. "It can’t go
on forever. I think the parties understand that."
Armenia has also criticized Turkey for its uncompromising position in
their negotiations, saying that statements linking the two unrelated
issues could hamper both the Armenian-Azerbaijani, as well as the
Armenian-Turkish negotiations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
