ERDOGAN SENDS ENVOY TO BAKU AFTER TALKS IN YEREVAN
Today’s Zaman
April 9 2010
Turkey
Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu, the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s
undersecretary, is scheduled to depart for Baku today where he will
convey a message and a letter from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
to Azerbaijani President Ä°lham Aliyev, with whom he will have talks
on the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Sinirlioglu traveled to Yerevan on Wednesday as Erdogan’s special
envoy and met with Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan as a process of
rapprochement aimed at restoring relations between the two estranged
neighbors is at a stalemate. Erdogan sent a letter to Sarksyan as
well, which contained a message that an agreement would better serve
the interests of the two countries, especially when compared to the
cost of a failure to make peace.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a joint press conference
with visiting Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas,
announced Sinirlioglu’s visit to Baku.
Describing Sinirlioglu’s meeting in Yerevan as "very positive and
constructive," Davutoglu underlined that the difficulties concerning
the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey should be overcome
"all together."
Recalling that he held a meeting with Sarksyan in Kiev in February
when the two attended the inauguration of Ukrainian President Viktor
Yanukovych, Davutoglu said they had agreed on principle with the
Armenian president on Sinirlioglu’s visit to Yerevan during the
Kiev meeting.
"Within this vision of peace, we believe that our relations with
Armenia will become normalized in compliance with the spirit and
wording of the protocols," Davutoglu added, referring to the two
protocols signed in October between Armenia and Turkey for establishing
diplomatic ties and reopening their border.
Following Sinirlioglu’s visit to Yerevan, a need for paying a visit to
Baku as well has emerged, diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told Today’s Zaman. Sinirlioglu will convey his perceptions
in the Armenian capital and the signals he received from the Armenian
side to Azerbaijani officials, the same sources said.
At the time, diplomatic sources described the meeting between
Davutoglu and Sarksyan that took place in Kiev as "an open-minded"
meeting during which the Turkish side, for the first time, had the
chance to explain its concerns on the Nagorno-Karabakh process to the
Armenian side. In earlier meetings, the Armenian side had refused to
talk about the issue with the Turkish side.
On Thursday, diplomatic sources said Davutoglu’s reference to the
Kiev meeting during the press conference with Droutsas should be
interpreted by keeping in mind the Armenian side’s openness to talk
about the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute with the Turkish side.
On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry had announced that Erdogan is
expected to meet with Sarksyan on the sidelines of a nuclear summit
in Washington next week. Erdogan will attend the summit on April
12-13, along with the leaders of 46 other countries. US President
Barack Obama, a staunch supporter of Turkish-Armenian efforts to
normalize their relations, will have bilateral talks with Sarksyan,
but no meeting is currently scheduled with Erdogan, the White House
has announced. Turkish officials said meetings with Obama or other
world leaders could be scheduled in the coming days if necessary.
Recalling that Azerbaijan will not be represented at the White House
summit, Turkish diplomatic sources said that through Sinirlioglu’s
visit, Turkey also wanted to pacify possible concerns on the
Azerbaijani side.