The chief of the foreign relations department of the Azerbaijani Presidency urges Ankara not to repeat the 2009 ‘mistake’ of attempting to open borders with Armenia before the country withdraws from occupied lands, SIA reports citing Hürriyet Daily News.
A senior Azeri official has urged Turkey not to repeat the 2009 "mistake" of attempting to open borders with Armenia before the country withdraws from occupied Azeri lands, underlining that they are suspicious of similar efforts to revive the stalled process between Ankara and Yerevan.
"There are such attempts [for the revival of the Ankara-Yerevan process] these days. I am hopeful and sure that the Turkish leadership will not take steps contrary to the will of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people," Novroz Mammadov, chief of the foreign relations department of the Azerbaijani Presidency, told the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview on Sept. 19.
Without further elaborating on what these attempts were, Mammadov said he was talking about "possibilities" rather than concrete moves. Approached by the Daily News, Turkish diplomatic sources said there were no intentions for the revival of the reconciliation process and that Turkey’s position vis-à-vis the Nagorno-Karabakh issue had not changed.
"A step was taken in 2009. An agreement was signed between Turkey and Armenia under the monitoring of six foreign ministers. It was not possible to implement this agreement because it was unfair," he said. "We do not want it to occur a second time."
Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols in 2009 but neither side succeed in bringing them before their Parliament for ratification and implementation. Turkey stopped the process because of a fierce reaction from Azerbaijan, 20 percent of whose territory is still under the occupation of Armenian troops.
"We are grateful for Turkey’s support to Azerbaijan with regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. We are regretful because of the failure of the international community’s efforts to resolve the problem since the early 1990s," he said.
President İlham Aliyev’s adviser underlined that Baku was not in fact against Turkey opening its borders with Armenia but that such a move should follow a step taken by Yerevan with regard to Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Turkey sealed its borders and cut diplomatic ties with Armenia after this country occupied our territories and the U.N. Security Council’s resolution on this occupation. We’ll have no objection to Turkey if it says it will move forward with Armenia on condition of ending this occupation," Mammadov said, in reference to the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the regions surrounding Karabakh.
There are seven regions occupied and, as the Madrid Principles recommends, a gradual withdrawal process from such regions would allow Baku and Yerevan to start political talks for future steps.
"Withdrawal from even three regions would allow the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border and the beginning of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations," he said.
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