Azerbaijan knows Turkey has always been its adherent in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.  Turkey even sacrificed rapprochement with Armenia for that end, political scientist Alexander Markarov told Panorama.am when asked to comment on Turkish former President Abdullah Gul's recent statement Turkey would never reconcile with what he called ‘violation of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.’

“Turkey and Azerbaijan share one and the same approach in the Karabakh conflict settlement. With this respect, Azerbaijan enjoys Turkey’s economic, military and political support. Moreover, Turkey’s backing makes Azerbaijan even further reinforce its position and stick to a non-constructive stance that impedes the conflict settlement the whole civilized world is eager to see,” Markarov said.

In his words, Abdullah Gul realizes the falsity of his own statements, saying great powers pay no proper attention to Karabakh conflict. Moreover, he knows well what mechanisms are periodically introduced by international community to make progress in the conflict settlement. 

“The former president of Turkey knows Armenia, Artsakh, and Azerbaijan are the ones capable of resolving the conflict. He also knows the conflict settlement requires political will Azerbaijan fails to show. Azerbaijan also fails to come up with friendly gestures aimed at reducing tensions and establishing atmosphere of mutual trust between opposing forces, instead preferring constant ceasefire violations,” noted Alexander Markarov.