CONGRESS DECISION ‘TO FORCE’ TURKEY TO TAKE RESPONSE MEASURES

news.az
March 5 2010
Azerbaijan

Cem Oguz Turkish politician Cem Oguz commented on yesterday’s decision
of the Congress on the "Armenian genocide".

"Unfortunately, a period of crisis in the Turkish-American relations
is now emerging, which is caused by the authors of the resolution
on ‘Armenian genocide’ rather than Turkey. This decision will force
Turkey to take response actions, said head of the Center for Strategic
Studies in Turkey Cem Oguz.

"Turkey may consider various options for response. For example,
it may deprive the United States of the access to Turkish air base
in Incirlik, which plays a key role in the US military operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, Turkey may reduce trading with the
United States. That is, we will think about various options before
taking response actions", said Cem Oguz.

As for the impact of this decision on the Karabakh conflict, the
Turkish politician noted that this issue is still frozen. "Everything
has entered a deadlock due to Armenia’s position in this issue.

President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly requested and demanded from the
international community to influence the position of the Armenians,
but, unfortunately, we have never seen them in action. The OSCE Minsk
Group is reportedly showing the activity, but no results are seen. Of
course, this cannot last long, while patience is unlimited too.

Instead of investigating historical events, it would be better if
the international community spares effort for solving the Karabakh
problem, and it would have been solved long before", he said.

Asked about the future of Turkish-Armenian protocols, Oguz said
that the chances for their adoption have reduced to zero after the
resolution was passed: "These protocols would have never been passed
by the parliament, while now their ratification will become even
more problematic".

However, the Turkish expert did not predict a quick withdrawal of
the protocols from the parliament: "Here we should show the calm and
careful approach, monitor the situation and take steps that will meet
Turkey’s interests".