TURKISH ULTRANATIONALISTS: TURKISH-AZERBAIJANI BROTHERHOOD HAS RECEIVED A SERIOUS BLOW
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.04.2009 16:57 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ultranationalist politicians and columnists have
expressed concern that recent visits by US President Barack Obama
and Armenian officials to Turkey may damage the historic ties between
Turkey and Azerbaijan, after the president of Azerbaijan stated that
he was disappointed by Turkey’s moves to normalize its relations
with Armenia.
The recent rift between Turkey and Azerbaijan became evident
when Turkey invited Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
to the second forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC)
held in Istanbul earlier this week. Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev refused to attend the event and sent a low-level delegation
instead. Ultranationalist circles in Turkey interpreted Azerbaijan’s
move as a harsh challenge, claiming that the Turkish government
had made a historic mistake when it sided with Armenia and left its
centuries-old ally, Azerbaijan, out in the cold.
"When we consider what we’ve experienced in the past few days, we’ll
see that the brotherhood between Turkey and Azerbaijan has received
a serious blow. The refusal of Azerbaijani President Ä°lham Aliyev to
attend the UNAOC meeting is the most concrete proof of it. Furthermore,
[US President Barack] Obama passed the ball to Turkey when he advised
us to solve our problems with Armenia ourselves [during his speech in
Parliament on Monday]. Now, it’s time to ask ourselves: What advantage
did we gain from all this?" said Abdullah Ozdogan, a columnist from
ultranationalist daily Yenicag.
Orhan KarataÅ~_, a columnist at another ultranationalist daily, Orta
Dogu, accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
of cooperating with Armenia with the ultimate purpose of recognizing
the Armenian Genocide.
"Will the recognition of Armenian claims be to the benefit of
Turkey?" KarataÅ~_ asked.
Some analysts, however, do not agree that the relationship between
Turkey and Azerbaijan is so fragile as to be damaged by a visit by
an Armenian or US official.
Milliyet daily’s Taha Akyol expressed a strong desire to see the
border between Turkey and Armenia reopened — provided that the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue is resolved.
"I favor the idea of reopening the hearts, doors and windows between
Turkey and Armenia. But the main condition for this is that all sides
should reach a solution that Azerbaijan can accept. Otherwise, the
current deadlock in the region will continue and the security and
the energy strategy in the Caucasus will receive a serious blow,
which will cause great damage to the United States," Today’s Zaman
cited him as saying.