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Turkish businessman: â€œNo government of Turkish Republic should lose Azerbaijan for winning Armenia in wordsâ€

09 April 2009 13:22 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Elnur Mammadli â€“ APA. â€œI think it is wrong to reopen Turkey-Armenia borders unless Karabakh problem is solved,â€ head of Turkeyâ€™s Cen Telecom company operating in Baku Mehmet Eren told APA. He considers that the borders will not be reopened, such a step will not favor Turkey.
â€œBeing Turkic nation we are facing Armenian problem for years. Therefore I do not believe that the borders will be reopened. In this respect there will be no problem between Azerbaijan and Turkey. We have always acted together with regard to the Armenian problem and it will be so. We will continue our friendship and brotherhood,â€ he said.

Mehmet Eren said Armenia could never replace Azerbaijan in terms of trade and economic investments.
â€œFor many years Turkey has been carrying out economic activities in Azerbaijan, it has not started recently. So, it is not right to speak about economic profit of the relations with Armenia for Turkey. It will never be possible,â€ he said.

Founder of Merd Petrol Azerbaijan-Turkey Joint Venture Ercan Turan told APA that Azerbaijan and Turkey had shared grief and happiness all through history. The soldiers of the Turkish army led by Nuru Pasha, who came to help Azerbaijan and died in the battles for Bakuâ€™s freedom at the beginning of the past century, were buried in the highest place of Azerbaijanâ€™s capital.
â€œWe know that Turkey was always together with Azerbaijan after the country gained its independence early in the 90s and a number of projects were implemented due to the joint efforts of the two countries. But Azerbaijani people are concerned over the recent talks on the reopening of Turkey-Armenia borders. The whole world knows that 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories were occupied, over one million people were displaced and Khojaly genocide was committed. Moreover, we know that Armenians accept a part of the eastern Anatolia as â€œWestern Armeniaâ€, regard Agri mountain as â€œNational Symbol of Armeniaâ€. No relations can be established with Yerevan unless Karabakh problem is solved, Armenia removes from its Constitution territorial claims against Turkey, gives up regarding Agri Mountain as the symbol of Armenia. We are sure that Turkey will do its best to solve all this. As President Abdullah Gul noted, rapid improvement in Turkey-Armenia relations is impossible unless there is improvement in the Karabakh problem,â€ he said.

Turan considers that no government of Turkish Republic should lose Azerbaijan for winning Armenia in words.
â€œAs national leader Heydar Aliyev said, we are one nation, two states. Turkey and Azerbaijan bear historical responsibility to protect their peoples. As a citizen of Turkey I believe that Turkey continues supporting Azerbaijan. We have no right to hurt Azeri Turks, lose their love and respect,â€ he said.