AZERBAIJAN WANTS TURKEY TO KEEP ITS PROMISE
Asbarez Staff
-wants-turkey-to-keep-its-promise/
Sep 3rd, 2009
BAKU (Combined Sources)-Azerbaijan signaled on Thursday that a further
alignment of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process with the current
Armenia-Turkey negotiations was taking place in revealing comments
that follow the release of protocols by Armenia and Turkey aimed at
establishing relations by year’s end.
"This issue was discussed last week during a telephone conversation
between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Ilham Aliyev
and Azerbaijan has once again stated its position," Novruz Mammedov,
a senior aide to Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, said on Thursday
commenting on the announcement of the Armenia-Turkey protocols.
Armenia and Turkey said Monday they will sign accords on diplomatic
ties after six weeks of domestic consultations and submit them to
their respective parliaments for ratification, after which the border
is expected to be opened within two months of ratification, possibly
by New Year.
Azerbaijan, a supplier of oil and gas to the West, opposes the opening
of borders between Armenia and Turkey without Yerevan quitting its
support for the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, over
which Baku seeks to regain control.
Mammedov told Azeri ANS television in comments posted on its website
on Thursday that the Turkish- Armenian rapprochement was contrary to
Azeri national interests. But he added: "I believe that before the
border is opened, there could be movement in resolving the conflict,
and certain agreement."
Mediators from the United States, France and Russia have for months
said they were close to clinching an agreement on the basic principles
of a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh. The OSCE
Minsk Group has been pushing for a speedy resolution of the conflict
before October to secure similar gains in the Armenia-Turkey track.
But analysts have been skeptical of a breakthrough, citing
a flawed mediation approach that ignores the conflicts core
issues-namely that of the Nagorno-Karabakh peoples’ right to self
determination,and Azerbaijan’s culpability in launching and losing a
war of aggression. That the two conflicts are being packaged together
into what is increasingly looking like one all-encompassing deal is
also cause for skepticism that mediators will reach a sustainable
solution to either issue.
Mammedov said that for Azerbaijan, "the main thing is that the
opening of the [Turkish-Armenian] border should not contradict" its
interests and "that certain movement should be achieved in resolving
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
A resolution to the Karabakh conflict, he reiterated, "depends
on the [Armenia-Turkey] negotiation and on conditions made in the
negotiations."
"It is necessary for the Turkish side to keep its promises," he added.