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Joint meeting of European Azerbaijanis Congress and Azerbaijan-Turkish Diaspora Coordination Council held in Germany - PHOTO

Joint meeting of European Azerbaijanis Congress and Azerbaijan-Turkish Diaspora Coordination Council held in Germany - <font color=red>PHOTO</font>

23 November 2009 10:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The joint meeting of European Azerbaijanis Congress and Azerbaijan-Turkish Diaspora Coordination Council was held in Frankfurt, Germany on November 21-22, press service of the State Committee for Diaspora told APA. Vice-speaker of Azerbaijani parliament Bahar Muradova, chief of socio-political department of the Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov, chairman of the State Committee for Diaspora Nazim Ibrahimov, parliamentarians Sabir Rustamkhanli and Fazil Mustafa, several Turkish parliamentarians, intellectuals attended the meeting. The event began with the demonstration of the documentary film â€œOne nation, two statesâ€. Making a keynote speech at the meeting president of the European Azerbaijanis Congress Bashar Komur said the millions of Azerbaijanis and Turks living in various countries are concerned over the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia on October 10.
â€œOf course, the discussion of this issue worries us while 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories are under occupation and over one million of our compatriots have been displaced. We hope Turkish parliamentâ€™s statements that the protocols will not be ratified unless the conflict is solved will remain effective. We consider that Azerbaijani and Turkish Diaspora organizations should express their view on this issue,â€ he said.
Chairman of the State Committee for Diaspora Nazim Ibrahimov said Turkish officials made statements that the protocols will not have negative influence on Azerbaijan-Turkey relations, solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict, that the borders will not open unless Armenia ends the occupation of Azerbaijani lands, but the recent happenings in the region show that the concerns are not groundless.
â€œThere is a need to study the influence of the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations on the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, to express the approach of the Diasporas to the issue,â€ he said. He added that it is expedient to hold public discussions in this direction.
Vice speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Bahar Muradova expressed confidence that this meeting will contribute to the friendship between Azerbaijan and Turkey. â€œWe invite Turkey to avoid any wrong step on this way and we believe that Turkeyâ€™s interests are covering Azerbaijanâ€™s interests as wellâ€.

Chief of the Public Policy Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov addressed the conference with a report on impact of Azerbaijani-Turkish partnership on peace and cooperation in the region. Hasanov mentioned the place and role of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations and spoke about the impact of Turkeyâ€™s current policy on this issue. He touched upon the position of Turkish government in the border issue and its attitude to the energy supply, gas and transit prices. He also mentioned the anti-Azerbaijan campaign in Turkish media and noticed the concern of Azerbaijani community about that. Then Ali Hasanov informed the participants about the position of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations and Turkeyâ€™s policy in the South Caucasus. Turkish parliamentarian from CHP (Republican Popular Party) Yilmaz Atesh read out CHP leader Deniz Baykalâ€™s letter to the participants of the conference. He delivered report about the place of Azerbaijan in the Turkeyâ€™s policy in the South Caucasus and said it was unthinkable that Turkey could lose confidence in Azerbaijan. â€œThe borders with Armenia can be opened only after the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from the occupationâ€.

Professor of the Baku State University Musa Gasimov, members of the Turkish parliament Atilla Kaya, Osman Kaptan, Metin Ergun (MHP), Canan Aritman (CHP), members of the Azerbaijani parliament Fazil Mustafa and Sabir Rustamkhanli and chairwoman of the Azeri-Turk Women Union Tanzila Rustamkhanli participated at the panel discussions.

The participants of the conference addressed the Azerbaijani and Turkish presidents, as well as the parliaments of both countries. â€œWe are against the ratification of the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia without the liberation of Azerbaijani lands, return of one million Azeris to their homeland, as well as withdrawal of Armenian genocide and territorial claims against Turkey. We believe that Turkey, which has rich statehood traditions, will irreproachably take this historic examination and not to take any action against the interests of friendly and brother Azerbaijanâ€.