TURKISH MP: JUST SETTLEMENT TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT IS A NATIONAL ISSUE FOR TURKEY

Today
April 15 2010
Azerbaijan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Armenia President
Serzh Sargsyan in Washington a couple of days ago. Will Turkey’s
position undergo any changes in terms of normalization of relations
with Armenia following this meeting?

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan made fundamental conditions, which
imply withdrawal of Armenian forces from all occupied Azerbaijani
territories, for the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations clear
to Armenian president at the meeting. No dramatic political changes
in South Caucasus region are possible until Nagorno-Karabakh region
is de-occupied.

Turkey, as they say, is playing with cards on the table, because our
position is based on international law, a need for implementation
of four UN resolutions on the occupied Azerbaijani territories and
increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Turkey appreciates the peacekeeping mission of OSCE Minsk Group, and
will continue to support its efforts towards peaceful settlement of
the Karabakh conflict.

Last year Turkey did much to support the work of the OSCE Minsk Group.

At the same time, there is no doubt that Turkish parliament will not
ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols until Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity is restored. Capture of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia is a
glaring injustice which should be eliminated. In general, I note that
at a meeting with President Sargsyan, Erdogan voiced the same position
and principles which he declared from the rostrum of the Milli Majlis
(Parliament) of Azerbaijan.

Some people in Turkey claim that the government is not averse to
open border with Armenia without involving settlement of the Karabakh
conflict in this process. It is persistence of Armenians in the issue
of so-called "genocide" that prevents this…

A settlement of the Karabakh conflict is a national issue of the
Turkish state. Unfortunately, some political forces in Turkey strive
to make political struggle out of this problem with their baseless and
false accusations against the AKP which in its turn harms settlement
of the Karabakh conflict.

We have repeatedly told our political opponents that liberation
of all Azerbaijani territories is the strategic direction of the
state policy of Turkey and Azerbaijan. There can be no alternative
to this. An attempt to speculate on this issue in order to achieve
some kind of domestic dividends is not acceptable at all.

It should be noted some media outlets in Azerbaijan were also engaged
in this dishonest game. Some newspapers and television channels voiced
completely unfounded accusations against the AKP. This campaign is
still going on though Prime Minister and the President of Turkey made
it clear that relations with Armenia will not be restored without
the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh.

This month, U.S. President Barack Obama will make his annual speech
devoted to the events of 1915. Last year, Obama did not use the
word "genocide". The U.S. Congress Committee adopted a resolution
recognizing the "Armenia genocide" in early March. To what extent
will this fact impact position of the American president in evaluating
the 1915 events?

Interesting enough, Barack Obama is the most knowledgeable of
"genocide" among all the U.S. presidents. We know that he carefully
studied the history of the events of 1915 in the last 6-7 months.

Perhaps, American administration studied all the details of this
issue for the first time.

Thanks to Erdogan’s policy, Washington understood essence of aggressive
activities of Armenia, which, under the buzz around the far-fetched
"the genocide of 1915, committed real genocide in Khojaly and occupied
20% of Azerbaijani territory. I think that now Washington knows that
whom international law supports in this regard.

Armenia says it will not compromise in the issue of Karabakh and
"genocide"…

Turkish government coordinated all Armenia-related activities with
Azerbaijan from the very beginning. This policy aimed at restoring
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, opening communication and
establishing stability and building trust in the South Caucasus.

Erdogan government continues this policy to this day through both
bilateral meetings and within the format of OSCE Minsk Group. However,
Turkey should not be expected to address all problems in the region.

Settlement of the Karabakh conflict is a very complex process which
requires much effort. The position of Azerbaijan and Turkey are very
strong in this matter. Sooner or later, the Armenian authorities will
realize in what a difficult situation they have ended up.

Lately Turkish media reported that Ankara is going to negotiate with
the Armenian Diaspora in Europe and US…

The Armenian Diaspora has a very negative attitude towards Turkey. The
dialogue between Turkey and the Armenian diaspora is quite possible
and would be very helpful. Discussions are underway on this issue in
Turkey at the moment.