TURKEY PRE-EMPTS ANY EXCLUSION OF BAKU IN ARMENIA NORMALIZATION

Trend
April 6 2010
Azerbaijan

Ankara believes Azerbaijan is an integral part of a solution to the
problem in the Caucasus and says its exclusion from the process is
out of the question, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

With speculation abounding about the Obama administration’s alleged
quest to neutralize the Azerbaijan factor in the Turkish-Armenian
normalization process, Ankara said it is out of the question for
Turkey to be involved in any formulation that excludes Baku.

"It is unquestionable for Turkey to leave Azerbaijan out of the cycle
in any manner," Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin told the
Hurriyet Daily News on Monday.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced last week he would
participate in an international nuclear security summit in Washington
on April 12-13, which took him a while to decide after a United States
committee passed a resolution labeling the 1915 killings of Armenians
as genocide.

But the margins of the summit will see diplomatic traffic between
Turkey and Armenia to revive the stalled normalization process.

Erdogan is expected to meet with Armenian President Serge Sarkisian,
and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu does not rule out a meeting with
members of the Armenian diaspora. Although diplomats say the program
is not yet clear, Erdogan may meet with U.S. President Barack Obama
for brief talks on the Ankara-Yerevan reconciliation before April
24, a day of commemoration for the 1915 events when U.S. presidents
deliver an annual message.

Azerbaijan’s absence at the summit, however, is strengthening the
argument of Washington’s so-called plans to eliminate Azerbaijani
pressure on Turkey, so that Ankara could take more progressive steps to
normalize ties with Yerevan. Turkish diplomatic sources told the Daily
News it is up to the host country, namely the United States in this
case, to decide which country to invite to the summit. The diplomats
added Azerbaijan’s non-participation should not be interpreted as
Baku’s exclusion.

Heads of state and government from more than 40 countries are expected
to attend the summit.

"We have not announced the full list of participants to the
international summit yet," U.S. Embassy spokesperson Deborah
Guido-O’Grady told the Daily News when asked if Baku was invited.

She denied the reports over the alleged U.S. plan to exclude Baku
from the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement as "incorrect."

"Azerbaijan and the United States work closely on a wide range of
issues, including the Minsk process, as well as with other countries
in the region including Turkey and Armenia," stated the spokesperson.

Together with Russia and France, the U.S. co-chairs the Minsk Group
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE,
which aims to find a settlement for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Turkey says any solution to the problem will facilitate the
Turkish-Armenian relationship, while Armenia opposes the Turkish
linkage of normalization in ties to the conflict with Baku.

In a briefing last Monday at the Foreign Press Center in Washington,
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said, "Azerbaijan is
a very important partner to the United States. It’s a strong force
for peace and stability in the Caucasus."

Steinberg said he appreciated Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s
efforts to support the Minsk process.

"We know these are difficult issues for all of the parties concerned
and that we need to find creative ways to overcome the differences
because, in the long term, deeper integration in the Caucasus, just as
we’ve been discussing in the Balkans, is in the interest of all the
region, and we want to see improved ties among all the key countries
in the Caucasus along with Turkey. There has been an opportunity to
move that forward," he added.

The official also praised the leadership of both Erdogan and Sarkisian
to move forward with the protocols. "We want to support that process.

At the same time we move forward on the Minsk process to try to
resolve the differences between Armenia and Azerbaijan."