Ankara reaffirms commitment to regional peace
Turkey`s recent plan to bolster peace in the
Caucasus seeks to bring regional states to the negotiating table to
pave the way for cooperation, the country`s Foreign Minister, Ali
Babacan, said during an official visit to Baku.
Babacan, speaking at a Monday press conference with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, said Ankara places the highest priority in finding a diplomatic solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict, the Russia-Georgia dispute and Turkey`s outstanding problems with neighboring Armenia.
"The main goal of all our efforts is to normalize relations, since these lingering problems make it impossible to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the region. We don`t want these problems to remain for future generations."
Following a brief period of hostilities between Russia and Georgia in August, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to establish a five-nation union, called the Caucasus Peace and Cooperation Platform, in an effort to bring Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia together around the same negotiating table.
Babacan said relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan were pivotal for the recent stepping up of diplomatic efforts in the turbulent region. He emphasized that in the past year alone, the two countries have hosted ten reciprocal visits among presidents and premiers, and 30 visits on the level of cabinet ministers.
Asked about the prospects for opening the Turkey-Armenia border, which has been closed since 1993 due to historic differences, Babacan said this depends on the normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.
"Ensuring Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity and reaching a settlement of the Garabagh conflict remains the founding principle in our policy toward Armenia. But all outstanding issues are to be resolved by diplomatic means," Babacan said.
The Azerbaijani minister told the press that he had broadly discussed with his Turkish counterpart ways of resolving the Garabagh problem along with Ankara`s proposal to establish the Caucasus stability platform. Also in focus were the Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway project as well as providing political backing for major energy projects, Mammadyarov added.
As part of the visit, the Turkish minister met on Monday with President Ilham Aliyev and Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov.
Babacan, speaking at a Monday press conference with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, said Ankara places the highest priority in finding a diplomatic solution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict, the Russia-Georgia dispute and Turkey`s outstanding problems with neighboring Armenia.
"The main goal of all our efforts is to normalize relations, since these lingering problems make it impossible to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the region. We don`t want these problems to remain for future generations."
Following a brief period of hostilities between Russia and Georgia in August, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to establish a five-nation union, called the Caucasus Peace and Cooperation Platform, in an effort to bring Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia together around the same negotiating table.
Babacan said relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan were pivotal for the recent stepping up of diplomatic efforts in the turbulent region. He emphasized that in the past year alone, the two countries have hosted ten reciprocal visits among presidents and premiers, and 30 visits on the level of cabinet ministers.
Asked about the prospects for opening the Turkey-Armenia border, which has been closed since 1993 due to historic differences, Babacan said this depends on the normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.
"Ensuring Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity and reaching a settlement of the Garabagh conflict remains the founding principle in our policy toward Armenia. But all outstanding issues are to be resolved by diplomatic means," Babacan said.
The Azerbaijani minister told the press that he had broadly discussed with his Turkish counterpart ways of resolving the Garabagh problem along with Ankara`s proposal to establish the Caucasus stability platform. Also in focus were the Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway project as well as providing political backing for major energy projects, Mammadyarov added.
As part of the visit, the Turkish minister met on Monday with President Ilham Aliyev and Parliament Speaker Ogtay Asadov.
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