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Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke for a length of time about Palestinian issue, but didnâ€™t touch upon occupation of Azerbaijani lands

25 September 2009 09:11 (UTC +04:00)

He spoke for a length of time about the Palestinian issue, but didnâ€™t touch upon the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and was satisfied only couple of common sentences about Nagorno Karabakh conflict, APA reports quoting CNN Turk. He said Turkey deeply concerned over the Palestinian conflict and said resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on two states existing in peace and security was indispensable to both regional and global peace. He said Turkey always supported Palestinian people and would continue its support further.
The Prime Minister reminded about the Israeli military operation in 2008. â€œThe three-week Israeli military offensive at the start of the year, which Israel said was to end rocket attacks by militants operating in Gaza, quickly turned into a human tragedy. The conflict resulted in the death of some 1,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and more than 5,000 injuries. Many buildings in Gaza were turned to rubble, and even UN sites came under attack. Mr. Pan Ki-Moon saw those sites and expressed his protests. It has been eight months since the declaration of the ceasefire that ended the hostilities in Gaza and months had also passed since an international conference in Egypt pledged billions of dollars for the reconstruction of the area. However, I regret that the human tragedy in Gaza still goes on. Turkey has on every possible occasion stressed that it is not possible to turn a blind eye to the appalling conditions in Gaza. It is our common humanitarian and moral responsibility to ensure that the tragedy unfolding in Gaza is brought to an end, and an atmosphere of lasting peace is created in the region. We demand that these obstacles are immediately lifted and normalcy restored to Gaza for the sake of peace and security of both Israel and the Palestiniansâ€, said Erdogan.
The Prime Minister also touched upon actions taken toward normalization of relations with Armenia. â€œOur efforts toward normalization of relation with our neighbor Armenia bring its results. It is time to solve conflicts in the Caucasus, particularly the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict within the territorial integrity of the countriesâ€, said Erdogan.
In his statements made in Turkey, Erdgoan always said that the borders with Armenia would be never opened before ending of occupation of Azerbaijani lands, but in his speeches in the United States he didnâ€™t mention this issue because there is no such condition in the protocols initialed between Turkey and Armenia. Erdogan and his team aim to avoid the pressure of the Turkish community and to calm the people with those statements.
The Islamists (or forces using Islam for their political goals) in Turkey pay great attention to the Palestinian problem, but remain indifferent to the issues related to Azerbaijan and Turkic world.