Trend, Azerbaijan
Oct 22 2009
Society should resist opening of Turkey- Armenia border: Azerbaijani
opposition leader
Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.22 / Trend News A.Huseynbala /
Azerbaijani opposition leader thinks that the society should protest
against opening of the Turkey-Armenia borders.
"Majority of Turkish people are against signing the protocols. The
Turkish government has taken this action under pressure of the U.S.A.
and the West. The society should resist to prevent this step," Head of
the National Independence Party of Azerbaijan (NIPA) Etibar Mammadov
told Trend News.
Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward
Nalbandian signed the protocols Ankara-Yerevan in Zurich on October
10.
Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey have been broken due
to Armenia’s claims of an alleged genocide, and its occupation of
Azerbaijani lands. The border between them has been broken since 1993.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7
districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed
a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia,
France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.
The Turkish and Azerbaijani public should participate in protests to
put pressure on the Turkish government, Mammadov said. "But we can not
allow this issue to be abused," the leader of the NIPA said.
According to Mammadov, there is no need to raise the issue of the flag
in the statements on the Turkish government’s intention to open its
border with Armenia.
"The Azerbaijani flag was not allowed to be taken to the stadium under
the Turkish official’s decision in Bursa. The Turkish public opposed
it and criticized its government," he said.
Regarding the possibility of joint activities of the Azerbaijani
opposition parties to prevent the ratification of the protocols in the
Turkish parliament, Mammadov said that every organization should
express its position.
"You should not differentiate the power and the opposition in this
issue. This issue affects the national interests," Mammadov added.
NIPA, founded in 1992, is the first officially registered political
party in Azerbaijan. Etibar Mammadov was the founder and chairman of
the party until 2004. At present, Mammadov is the deputy chairman of
the International Democratic Society.