AZERI MP: ANKARA HAS AGAIN STARTED TO PUT STIFF PRESSURE ON YEREVAN

news.az
Nov 17 2009
Azerbaijan

Asim Mollazade I consider the recent stable thaw in the Turkish-Israeli
relations to be a very positive sign, MP Asim Mollazade said commenting
on the resumption of the military and strategic cooperation between
Turkey and Israel.

This cannot be otherwise, as both countries are strategic partners
in the Middle East, Turkey is a NATO member and it fulfills wide
functions of ensuring Israel’s security. The long confrontation of
these countries could have serious negative implications for such a
dangerous region as the Middle East, Mollazade noted.

"Moreover, Turkey did not manage to get much sympathy among Arab
states. In particular, when speaking to representatives of secular
Arab countries, I often heard them saying that stiffening of Turkey’s
position toward Israeli had a negative impact on balance of powers in
the region and complicated the dialogue with official Tel-Aviv. Turkey
gained nothing except for applauds from radical groupings of Lebanon,
Palestine and Syria that have no serious influence in the international
arena", Mollazade said.

I think that the sharp anti-Israeli slant of the Turkish leadership
was connected with elections in Turkey. The rating of the ruling party
was rapidly declining and the initiated anti-Israeli rhetoric helped
the powers get support of pro-Islam Turkish circles during elections.

And now when the task is fulfilled, official Ankara is gradually
turning to its traditional foreign-policy vector including to
restoration of relations with Tel-Aviv, the parliamentarian said.

"I would like to note that the Turkish-Israeli rapprochement has,
undoubtedly, had a positive influence not only on the Middle East
but also on the South Caucasus. Turkey continued its traditional
policy of developing strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, aimed at
implementing the planned economic and energy transportation projects.

Ankara has resumed stiff pressure on Yerevan in the resolution of
the Karabakh conflict. On the whole, I think the hard geopolitical
moments for Azerbaijan are left behind", Mollazade said.