Turkish envoy reassures Azerbaijan on Armenia deal, minister says
A top Turkish diplomat has reassured Azerbaijan that Ankara will
continue to uphold Azerbaijani interests during its reconciliation
efforts with Armenia, Azerbaijan's foreign minister said Friday,
AFP reported.
Elmar Mammadyarov said Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, who met with officials in Baku on Friday, assured Azerbaijan that Ankara's position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh remained unchanged.
"Ankara's official position on the question of Armenian-Turkish relations and resolving the Upper Garabagh conflict has not changed," Mammadyarov told journalists in Baku.
Sinirlioglu’s mission to Baku follows his visit to Yerevan Wednesday, during which he discussed steps to resolve the impasse in peace efforts and secured agreement on a meeting next week between the two countries' leaders, on the sidelines of an international gathering in Washington.
According to Mammadyarov, Turkey pledged to take swift action to promote peace and stability in the volatile South Caucasus region and work to foster progress in resolving the Garabagh problem as a result of the upcoming meetings in the United States.
"Turkey will work for the adoption [by Armenia] of the updated Madrid principles [covering Garabagh settlement] and to foster an opportunity for us to begin working on a comprehensive accord."
Azerbaijan — linked to Turkey with close ethnic, political and economic bonds — was angered by a historic deal Ankara and Yerevan signed in October 2009 to end decades of hostility, establish diplomatic ties and open their border. Turkey says progress over Upper Garabagh will be a determining factor in Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and has repeatedly assured Azerbaijan, its ally, that the normalization accords will not pass in the country’s parliament until progress is made in resolving the Garabagh conflict, while Yerevan rejects any link between the two issues.
Ankara sealed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity with Baku after ethnic Armenian separatists, backed by Yerevan, invaded the Upper Garabagh region and seven surrounding Azerbaijani districts in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.
The reconciliation deal — comprising two protocols that need parliamentary ratification in both countries — has been snagged by disagreements over its terms.*
Elmar Mammadyarov said Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, who met with officials in Baku on Friday, assured Azerbaijan that Ankara's position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh remained unchanged.
"Ankara's official position on the question of Armenian-Turkish relations and resolving the Upper Garabagh conflict has not changed," Mammadyarov told journalists in Baku.
Sinirlioglu’s mission to Baku follows his visit to Yerevan Wednesday, during which he discussed steps to resolve the impasse in peace efforts and secured agreement on a meeting next week between the two countries' leaders, on the sidelines of an international gathering in Washington.
According to Mammadyarov, Turkey pledged to take swift action to promote peace and stability in the volatile South Caucasus region and work to foster progress in resolving the Garabagh problem as a result of the upcoming meetings in the United States.
"Turkey will work for the adoption [by Armenia] of the updated Madrid principles [covering Garabagh settlement] and to foster an opportunity for us to begin working on a comprehensive accord."
Azerbaijan — linked to Turkey with close ethnic, political and economic bonds — was angered by a historic deal Ankara and Yerevan signed in October 2009 to end decades of hostility, establish diplomatic ties and open their border. Turkey says progress over Upper Garabagh will be a determining factor in Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and has repeatedly assured Azerbaijan, its ally, that the normalization accords will not pass in the country’s parliament until progress is made in resolving the Garabagh conflict, while Yerevan rejects any link between the two issues.
Ankara sealed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity with Baku after ethnic Armenian separatists, backed by Yerevan, invaded the Upper Garabagh region and seven surrounding Azerbaijani districts in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.
The reconciliation deal — comprising two protocols that need parliamentary ratification in both countries — has been snagged by disagreements over its terms.*