TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER: "NEITHER ARMENIA NOR ANY OTHER COUNTRY COULD DARE TO CLAIM ANY PART OF TURKISH TERRITORIES"
Anadolu Agency
Oct 21 2009
Turkey
ANKARA (A.A) – 21.10.2009 – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
said that neither Armenia nor any other country could dare to claim
any part of Turkish territories.
Davutoglu addressed the parliament and gave information about the
protocols signed by Turkey and Armenia on October 10 to establish
diplomatic ties and develop bilateral relations.
"Turkey’s foreign policy is based on a sound ground. The most
fundamental element is to create a zone of peace, prosperity and
stability around our country. This is the most important target of our
foreign policy. We will maintain our efforts to ensure permanent peace,
prosperity and stability in all adjacent areas including the Balkans,
the Caucasus and the Mediterranean," we said.
"We pursue a quite principled policy to this end. We are trying to put
into practice four main principles to develop such an understanding
in those areas. The first of those principles is to create and ensure
an order of security and stability for everyone in the adjacent areas.
The second is to consolidate a ground of political dialogue to resolve
all problems through dialogue. The third is to create mutual economic
dependencies and to remove all obstacles in front of a peaceful
atmosphere through such an economic order. And the last one is to
pave the way for co-existence of different religious, ethnic, and
ideological elements by internalizing those differences of countries
and societies," he said.
"The current status quo in the Caucasus does not correspond to our
vision. Because there are frozen crises which can emerge and lead
to a security problem in the region. Those crises are just like bomb
which are ready to blow. If we fail to resolve them through peaceful
methods, they can pose risks. And there is not a sound ground of
political dialogue based on mutual confidence among the countries
in the southern Caucasus to remove those crises. Except from the
trilateral projects among Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, there are
not sufficient economic projects in the region. It is impossible to
ensure a lasting peace in the region without providing mutual economic
dependency and an area of economic prosperity," he said.
"Because of the current status quo in the Caucasus, some part of
Azerbaijani territories have been under occupation for the last 17
years. Armenia, on the other hand, is getting poorer and poorer and
its population has already begun leaving the country. And Turkey
cannot act efficiently because of the current status quo. Therefore,
we must change it. We have three important targets to this end: First
of all, we need to establish good neighborly relations with Armenia.
Secondly, we want to set up a channel of healthy communication between
Turkish and Armenian peoples. And thirdly, we aim at accelerating the
process to resolve the Upper Karabakh dispute between Azerbaijan and
Armenia," he said.
Davutoglu added, "neither Armenia nor any other country could dare
to claim any part of Turkish territories. And the protocols we signed
with Armenia ensure this."