TURKEY: GAS FROM AZERBAIJAN OR ARMENIA?

gas
07:56 pm | October 13, 2009

Politics

Turkey closed the border with Armenia in 1993 due to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and now the Turkish society will not
understand why it will be opened without the conflict resolution,"
says coordinator of the "Hurriyet" newspaper Eyup Jan.

According to him, Turkey will favor Azerbaijan because "Turkey is
both nationally and economically tied to Azerbaijan."

But what is the most essential part in the Turkish-Azerbaijani
relations? In response, the Turkish journalist took note that
Azerbaijan has the gas and petroleum and there are rumors from the
Azerbaijani side that "Azerbaijan will cut off gas supply to Turkey
if the border opens."

Although the official Yerevan assures that the Protocols on
normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations signed on October 10
have nothing to do with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Turks tend
to differ.

Editor-in-chief of the Istanbul-based Armenian "Zhamanak" daily
Ara Gochunyan recalled the words of the Turkish Foreign Minister:
"Davutoglu constantly says that concrete things happen thanks
to Turkey’s interference, claims and Turkey’s warning that the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict cannot remain frozen."

By the way, today it became clear that a 14-member Azerbaijani
delegation will leave for talks in Ankara.

Perhaps this is not by chance since the protocols will be sent to
the Turkish parliament for ratification on October 21.

Ara Gochunyan says that sending the protocols doesn’t imply that
the border will soon be opened. The Turkish parliament has yet to
include the issue in its agenda and, based on Gochunyan’s prediction,
the issue will once again get "heated" before the day of commemoration
of the victims of the Armenian Genocide next April.

Gochunyan believes that the signing of the bilateral protocols is just
the beginning and recalls the panic when the signing was delayed for
a couple of hours.

Let us remind that the Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers did not
make any statement after the signing of the protocols and no other
speeches were made as well. The Armenian side claims that the signing
of the protocols was delayed because the Turkish Foreign Minister
had tied the normalization of relations with the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. In fact, there is nothing mentioned about Karabakh in
the speech transmitted to the presses by the Turkish Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and it seems as though the issue is more related to
the creation of a historical commission.

Ara Gochunyan believes that there is no reason to be concerned about
the protocols. "This doesn’t mean we forget about the past. There are
simply new conditions and the sides are trying to establish relations
and communicate for the first time."

As for the concerns, Mr. Gochunyan sees one way. "If there are
Armenians who are worried, there is only one thing for them to do
and that is to give strength to Armenians in order for Armenia to be
strong. These countries are just beginning to establish contacts and
nobody knows what will happen next," said Ara Gochunyan.