Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14

By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:

The visit of Turkish MP Garo Paylan to Yerevan is an obvious step for the benefit of Armenia, Erdem Eren, Turkish foreign policy expert and chief coordinator of the Beyaz Hareket political movement, told Trend.

“Paylan, given his nationality, may be in sympathy with Armenia, but in this case he represents the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which has long been maintaining close contacts with Armenia and PKK,” he said.

He noted that in 2008, when military operations against the PKK were held in Turkey, numerous members of this organization fled to Armenia.

The expert said that Paylan’s visit to Armenia can be assessed in this context, as in Yerevan, he called on Ankara to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide and called Armenia a more democratic state, unlike Turkey.

“If Armenia and its friends are so democratic, why don’t they recognize the Khojaly genocide, and why Yerevan still holds native Azerbaijani lands under occupation?”

When it comes to Turkey and its friends, some countries perceive terrorists as defenders of democracy, Eren added.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.