AZERI LEADER COMMENTS ON TURKISH-ARMENIAN RAPPROCHEMENT
ANS TV
April 28 2009
Azerbaijan
The Azerbaijani people have a right to know what is going on in
relations between Turkey and Armenia, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev has said.
Aliyev was speaking at a joint news conference with European Commission
President Jose Manuel Barroso after their meeting in Brussels on 28
April, Baku-based ANS TV reported.
It quoted Aliyev as saying that the world, the region and the
Azerbaijani people had a right to know what was happening between
Turkey and Armenia given conflicting reports, which he called "a
game of words", about a recent road map towards the normalization of
their relations.
CNN Turk TV channel footage of Aliyev, which ANS carried, showed
Aliyev noting that Azerbaijan was not in a position to give the
go-ahead or prevent relations between the two countries. He added that
Azerbaijan had a right to shape its policy in line with new realities
in the region and that it would use that right. Aliyev said that
the Azerbaijani people would like to know whether the Karabakh peace
process was separate from Turkish-Armenian rapprochement. "This is a
very simple question and a very simple answer is needed," Aliyev said.