The show ofsupport by Turkey for Azerbaijan in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakhconflict, which has been in a stalemate for more than two decades, is extremelyimportant as it is critical for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, anAzerbaijani analyst has said.
“There areseveral countries in the world that have recognized Armenia as an aggressorstate but all those recognitions are on paper or just statements. But there isonly one country that is punishing the aggressor state in real terms. Turkey closedits borders with Armenia years ago and has stated that it will not open itsborders until the occupation of Azerbaijani territories is terminated. This isvery important to us [Azerbaijanis] and for that, Azerbaijan is grateful toTurkey,” Farhad Mammadov, the director of the Azerbaijani Center for StrategicStudies (SAM), said in Yalova province on Monday.
Addressingstudents and professors of Yalova University under the scope of “AzerbaijanWeek,” which kicked off on Monday, Mammadov noted that the joint politics ledby both Turkey and Azerbaijan are “sensible and are a vital part ofAzerbaijan's territorial integrity.”
Turkey and Azerbaijan have for the past three yearsbeen organizing joint academic activities, dedicating a year to one of the two countries.“Azerbaijan Week” comes after "Turkey Week" was held in Azerbaijanlast year, where the strategic research centers of both countries jointlyorganized a series of academic events in the Azerbaijani provinces of Ganja,Lenkeran, Aghdam and the capital city of Baku to raise awareness in bothcountries. Conducted by the Turkish Center for Strategic Research (SAM) incooperation with the Azerbaijan President's Office's SAM this year, academicsfrom both countries came together to increase public awareness on Azerbaijan,its role in the region, bilateral relations between the two nations and thesignificance that Turkey attaches to its brother country Azerbaijan.
Also talking about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,Mammadov said that there are very few countries in the world that have beenoccupied and there are even fewer countries whose territories' occupation wasconfirmed by UN Security Council resolutions. “Azerbaijan is one of them. Ithas been 20 years since four resolutions were accepted by the UN SecurityCouncil calling on Armenia to withdraw its troops from the occupied Azerbaijaniterritories but they have yet to be implemented,” Mammadov stated, calling onthe international community not to remain silent over the injustice ofNagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territoryin the early 1990s, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent provinces.Diplomatic efforts to find an enduring solution to the conflict have failed forthe past 20 years but Azerbaijan vows to get its territories back by force, ifnecessary.
Turkey closed its borders with Armenia in 1993 insolidarity with Azerbaijan. The issue of Armenia's withdrawal from the areasurrounding Nagorno-Karabakh is of importance to Ankara, which has frequentlysignaled that this step would ease the way for the reopening of its border withArmenia.
Commenting on Turkey's initiative to reopen borderswith Armenia which remain closed in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan, ArazAslanlı, the head of the Caucasian Center for International Relations andStrategic Studies (QAFSAM), said Azerbaijan's expectations from Turkey relatingto the borders are not based on emotions but rest on a rationality linked tothe kinship and relations between the two nations. The analyst urged bothsides, particularly Turkey, to wait for the right time as hurrying the processcould be a damaging blow to the joint efforts of both Turkey and Azerbaijanthus far to isolate Armenia in the region -- a move that is considered to pushArmenia toward a long-awaited peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakhconflict.
“Opening the borders should be left to the right timeas the occupation of Azerbaijani territories should not be dismissed,” Aslanlısaid.
Two protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia inZurich on Oct.10, 2009, to normalize relations and reopen their closed borderswere not implemented after opposition from Azerbaijan.
Ferhat Pirinççi, an advisor at SAM under the TurkishForeign Ministry, noted that soccer diplomacy, the first step of the Turkishgovernment on the path to normalizing frozen diplomatic relations with Armenia,and later the two protocols signed in Zurich were an alternative attempt byTurkey to bring about a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,which could not be solved for many years.
“This problem could not be solved by the [Organizationfor Security and Co-operation in Europe] OSCE Minsk Group and alternativemechanisms are needed to settle the conflict. In this context, Turkey's mainaim is to resort to alternative ways to finalize the peaceful settlement of theNagorno-Karabakh conflict and thus to contribute to the political stability inthe region, one of the main lines of Turkish foreign policy,” Pirinççi said inhis speech at Yalova University.
Pirinççi also said the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict isnot just a trivial issue as Turkey places special importance on an urgentsettlement. “Turkey is a side in this conflict and will always move along withAzerbaijan towards the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. WithoutAzerbaijan, no single step can be put forward and last week this view was oncemore stated in Ankara. [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev also mentioned thisduring his conference,” Pirinççi said.
Last week Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğanonce again reiterated at a joint press conference with President AliyevAnkara's commitment to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, saying that“Karabakh is not just Azerbaijan's problem, but also Turkey's problem.”
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