Azernews.Az

ANKARA – Turkish President Abdullah Gul has said "nothing can affect" the friendship between Turkey and Azerbaijan, following a report that quoted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s alleged remarks in which he criticized Ankara’s policies.

"We are two separate states of the same nation," Gul said, commenting on the WikiLeaks reports that released the US government’s alleged secret cables on Sunday.

The reports contained alleged correspondence between US diplomats and the State Department. WikiLeaks alleged that US Charge D’Affairs Donald Lieu had sent a letter to his government in February 2010 allegedly disclosing the full text of the February 23 meeting between US Undersecretary of State William Burns and President Aliyev. Aliyev is said to have expressed his alleged distaste for the Erdogan government in Turkey, underscoring the "naivete" of their foreign policy and the failure of their initiatives, including the loss of support for Turkey among traditional international friends because of Ankara’s alleged hostility to Israel.

President Gul said the cables expressed certain personal views about the developments ongoing in the countries US diplomats work in as well as some persons. "Some of this may be true and other things may not. That’s the way this issue should be interpreted."

Gul said the allegations about his relations with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan couldn’t undermine these relations and Ankara’s current policy. According to him, the leak of confidential information to the media should be a concern primarily for the country whose archives contained this information.

One of the alleged letters disclosed by WikiLeaks cited tension between President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had extended an apology to Turkey over the release of the confidential cables. Davutoglu noted that the secret information posted on the WikiLeaks website concerns both US and Turkish interests, adding that this could affect Washington’s relations with other countries.