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Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoghlu: It is unquestionable for Turkey to leave Azerbaijan out of the cycle in the South Caucasus in any manner â€“INTERVIEW

13 April 2010 09:06 (UTC +04:00)

Washington. Isabel Levine - APA. APAâ€™s Washington correspondentâ€™s interview with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoghlu

- Mr. Minister, you have attended Turkish Prime Minister Rejep Erdoganâ€™s Washington visit, where he discussed many issues today, especially meeting with Armenian president. What was Azerbaijanâ€™s, especially Nagorno-Karabakhâ€™s place in the talks?

- As usual, this was a main issue. Our prime minister is very interested in explaining to the Armenian leaders the sensitive points of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We believe Azerbaijan is an integral part of a solution to the problem in the Caucasus and says its exclusion from the process is out of the question. It is unquestionable for Turkey to leave Azerbaijan out of the cycle in any manner. Before the U.S visit, I spoke with Azerbaijani diplomats. Our representative has been both in Baku and Yerevan. We communicate with them very often.

It is also important for Turkey for the Obama administration to focus its attention on this topic. I want to reiterate that the liberation of the occupied Azerbaijani territories was one of the goals of the Turkish-Armenian protocols, in addition to normalization of the Turkey-Armenia bilateral relations.

We will maintain our peaceful perspective but we will not let anyone put pressure on Turkey over issues on which we can give no concessions. We hope our counterparts on this issue had received the message
The international community must understand that, one-sided peace is impossible in the South Caucasus.

- What is the next step in the normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations?

- The fact is that we have been always aware that only Turkish-Armenian reconciliation is not enough to create peace and stability in the South Caucasus. Only with a comprehensive solution, we can maintain the atmosphere of reconciliation and remove the remaining barriers to dialogue, cooperation and peace in the region. This, of course, will require political will and courage.

We all want to forget previous hostility and instigate in future positive aspects of common history. This is very important that we have common aspiration to build bright future in the South Caucasus. One of them is signing the Turkish-Armenian protocols in Zurich Oct. 10. However, the decision of the Constitution Court of Armenia in connection with injecting changes to protocols has been a sudden obstacle on the way of ratification of protocols.

If all sides â€“we and they - take a responsibility and try to contribute in the achievement of comprehensive peace in the South Caucasus, then the Turkish parliament will ratify the protocols in the nearest future. This will not only facilitate the rapprochement between the two nations, but also continue the way to the new future and establishment of peace, prosperity and cooperation. In this respect, the urgent need is not to put impediments in the way of establishment of peace and stability under the veil of fictional juridical problems.

However, as our PM said, weâ€™ll explain to the U.S. administration that we cannot achieve lasting peace in the region without resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. We strongly believe that, the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia complicated cooperation in the Caucasus on a regional and global scale. The OSCE Minsk Group is the only international instrument that can induce parties to take steps to overcome differences and reach a peaceful settlement.

Recognition of the so-called "Armenian genocide will have a very strong negative impact on the further establishment of peace in the Caucasus.

- By the way, can US President Obama recognize â€œArmenian genocideâ€ thus spoiling strategic relations with Turkey this month? If so, how will it influence the negotiations over Turkish-Armenian establishment?

- I hope that President Barack Obama will not recognize it Apr.24. Every spring we wait the threat of a crisis in the U.S-Turkey relations with fear. The United States has now two options: to turn all the progress achieved in relations between Turkey and Armenia and in general in the South Caucasus, to no, or to continue promoting the peace process in the region. We think they will choose the second path.