‘Nagorno-Karabakh occupation impedes solution to Turkey-Armenia controversy’

Extending Azerbaijan’s support to Turkey one more time in the wake of the most recent Armenian genocide allegations, deputy foreign minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov has stated that his country is “badly disappointed” by the French Parliament’s decision, and he reaffirmed that Turkey and Azerbaijan, as with many other issues, were on the same page regarding the Armenian controversy.Speaking to Today’s Zaman during a working visit to Ankara, Azimov raised concerns similar to those of Turkish officials regarding the French vote. He found the vote “strange” given the fact that France acted as co-chairs to the Minsk Group, a multipartite platform that was organized to settle the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Azimov expressed disapproval on the French lower house vote to criminalize denial of the “Armenian genocide,” saying that it is, however, possible to understand why the bill came through given the “political labyrinth of Paris,” a reference to the pre-election political calculations of rivaling parties. The experienced deputy minister stressed that the French vote was “a shady and tricky intrigue” that would widely damage and compromise the international image of France and deal massive damage due to the “double standards” reflected in the bill. Turkey and Azerbaijan vehemently deny genocide allegations regarding the events of 1915, in which Armenians were killed in massive numbers at the onset of World War I. It is also claimed that Armenians targeted Azerbaijani populations after the collapse of the Soviet Union during their invasions of Azerbaijani territories.

Regarding the latest French lower house vote on penalizing denial of the “Armenian genocide,” Azimov believes that the bill was based on “a false history” which Armenians were promoting with “undesirable vigorousness.” Azimov noted, “Putting my feet in the shoes of my colleagues in Ankara, I cannot trust a country [Armenia] which creates genocide initiatives on the one hand and speaks about a desire to cooperate on the other, not recognizing the territorial integrity of Turkey and compromising the borders of the country,” he noted. Turkey and Armenia came to the brink of reopening of their borders, which were closed by Turkey almost two decades ago in response to the Armenian invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh, but Armenia’s refusal to withdraw forces from the occupied territories cut off negotiations.

Although Azerbaijan has been trying for two decades to solve the territorial disputes and alleged Armenian invasions through the Minsk Group initiative, there has so far been almost no progress towards resolving the dispute. “On March 24th, 2012, we shall mark, with a sense of regret, the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Minsk Group,” Azimov stated as he expressed his displeasure that the international platform has reached no tangible results towards rectifying what Azerbaijan and Turkey both call “an Armenian invasion” of land that historically belonged to Azerbaijan. Last week, Turkish President Abdullah Gül also questioned French impartiality in its responsibility as co-chair of the group that is expected to deliver results on the dispute that lies as the fundamental barrier to a fence-mending between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as Turkey.

“Although the awaited conference never took place, throughout the 20 years members of the Minsk Group have tried to negotiate the withdrawal of forces from occupied territories and other issues, such as the return of populations, restoration of communication and roads, rehabilitation of territories and so on … The years went by, and negotiations were disrupted by Armenian occupations and changes of representatives,” the deputy foreign minister stated matter-of-factly, as he expressed his belief that that the Armenian occupation is a most urgent matter to be resolved before any political discussion will be possible. “Still, we have not had any breakthroughs, any successes,” he noted.

The Minsk Group, an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) initiative, was established in 1992 and a conference was scheduled to take place for peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In it’s almost 20 years of existence, the Minsk process has failed to produce any conference. “No other parties are as interested as Turkey and Azerbaijan to find a solution to this conflict and the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied territories,” Azimov spoke of the willingness of both Azerbaijan and Turkey to resolve a major challenge to peace in Caucuses and added, “only then would we be able to go beyond this situation that is ‘not quite peace and not quite war,’ but Armenia needs to be sincere in its cooperation.”

Holding the belief that the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute is one of the largest challenges in Azerbaijani foreign policy, Azimov stated that the removal of Armenian forces from the disputed region would be paramount for the start of negotiations, which would benefit Armenia significantly at a time when the country has lost half of its population. “Armenia would benefit greatly from an agreement since its economy does not look promising and its population is continuously shrinking,” Azimov said and expressed belief that the Armenians were leaving for a better life outside Armenia. “The Armenian nation is losing a very good opportunity to create momentum to try and remedy these issues,” he said, lamenting Armenia’s lack of initiative towards sincerely working with Azerbaijan and Turkey to find a solution.

“Instead of keeping their level of trust at zero, which risks erupting into crisis, everything now depends on whether the Armenian leadership will find the political will, courage, strategic vision and wisdom to take the hand that has been outstretched to them,” Azimov lamented an absence of shared perspective between Azerbaijan and Armenia, saying that it would be best for both countries to “see two communities living side by side” in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, backed by the Armenian government, fought a war to overthrow Azerbaijani control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the early 1990s at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Separatists also seized land surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan during the conflict. Turkey backs Azerbaijani claims to Nagorno-Karabakh, which today has a large number of ethnic Armenian residents. Azerbaijan claims that most of the region’s Azerbaijani settlers were expatriated during the Armenian invasion of the land.
“Turkey and Azerbaijan on par with foreign policy”

“Turkey was the first to recognize Azerbaijan when it was founded 20 years ago,” Azimov said in words that reaffirmed the connection between the two countries, and described Turkey as “Azerbaijan’s window into Europe,” referring to Azerbaijanis who traveled through İstanbul on their way to European destinations back when their country was born anew from the ashes of the Soviet bloc. “Since then we have been in constant cooperation, sharing knowledge and experience,” Azimov added, citing numerous examples where Azerbaijan and Turkey acted as partners throughout the last 20 years.

“Although we came a bit later [than Turkey], we are now partners to major international communities and we are members of regional and global frameworks,” he said of Azerbaijani development in the last two decades. “The success of these 20 years has proven the irreversibility of our independence; nothing can turn us back now,” Azimov said, recalling that Azerbaijan’s sovereignty was disrupted many decades ago when the Soviet bloc was formed. But this time around, Azimov believes, the Republic of Azerbaijan has come to stay.

Referring to cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan on foreign missions, Azimov noted that the countries were working together in their peacekeeping efforts — under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, for example. But Azimov argued that the motivation for both countries goes beyond the sheer fact that they are a part of ISAF; they were fighting to maintain stability for the Afghan nation, who they consider a brotherly people. Sharing a common vision in their relations with Middle Eastern and African countries, Asimov said that Azerbaijan was not as immediate a neighbor as Turkey, but has been involved in the developments of the region “to the best of Azerbaijan’s ability.”

Hopeful for the country’s future, Azimov noted that Azerbaijan’s foreign policy goal was to “try to develop bridges” between Central Asia and other parts the world, with awareness that foreign policy should be supported by economic growth, an area in which Azerbaijan feels increasingly confident. Predicting an increased spread of Azerbaijani companies to the farthest corners of the world, Azimov expressed hope that Azerbaijani businesses would reach farther markets such as Africa, where Turkey has made heavy economic and diplomatic investments in the last few years.
“UNSC seat a heavy duty, but Azerbaijan is ready to fulfill it”

Having triumphed at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) elections in October, Azerbaijan has won one of the 10 temporary seats for the period of 2012-2013, a development Azerbaijani officials mark as a victory for their powerful diplomacy and a sign that Azerbaijan has demonstrated itself as a reliable partner despite its young age. “This is the biggest victory in Azerbaijani foreign policy that has come in 20 years of independence. It is a good demonstration of the results of our policies, and proves that we deserve [the seat]; we are not there simply by occasion,” Azimov said to hail the victory that Azerbaijan won over two other European countries in the elections for the UNSC seat. “It is of course a huge responsibility, a huge duty, but we are ready to fulfill it,” said Azimov.

“We received 155 votes out of a total of 193, the maximum that a single country was able to get during this electoral campaign,” he stressed the overwhelming number of votes Azerbaijan received and said it was a sign of the desire of countries from all over the world to see Azerbaijan as a member of the UNSC, thanks to the “consistent foreign policy Azerbaijan has demonstrated throughout the last 20 years.” Azerbaijan was followed by Morocco, who received 151 votes, and will be sitting with the UNSC for the first time since the country was founded. “We are looking forward to realizing this support and reciprocate by actively contributing, by bridging Azerbaijan to the rest of the world,” Azimov added.

Azimov also voiced his country’s support for Turkey’s upcoming run for a UNSC spot in the next electoral term, and reaffirmed that Turkey and Azerbaijan have been in constant contact and carried out frequent consultations, which meant that Azerbaijan’s voice in the UNSC would welcome contributions from Turkey. “We are there and Turkey is not but Turkey should know that we are together in our efforts,” he added.

Azerbaijan was nominated for the UNSC seat from the Eastern European group and was elected to the seat for a two year period, based on the UN Charter election criteria that prioritize a country’s contributions towards international peace and security.

Source: Todays Zaman
URL : http://www.todayszaman.com/news-266822-nagorno-karabakh-occupation-impedes-solution-to-turkey-armenia-controversy.html

Posted by admin December 2011

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