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Ahmet Davutoglu: â€œIf Armenia wants peace in the region, it must withdraw its forces from the occupied Azerbaijani landsâ€

29 September 2010 11:38 (UTC +04:00)

He spoke about the Turkish-Armenian relations and situation in the Caucasus, APA reports quoting Turkeyâ€™s Cihan News Agency.
The minister said Turkey began talks with Armenia in 2007 in Switzerland and signed protocols in 2009. He said they intended to normalize relations not only between Armenian and Turkey, but between all Armenians and Turks over the world. Emphasizing that the two peoples lived together for thousands of years, Davutoglu said it was mistake to identify the past of Armenians and Turks with what happened with the Jewish people in Europe. â€œWe and Armenians are neighbors. Yes, we experienced pain in 1915 and we are willing to share this pain. But I would like to ask those, who are accusing us in genocide, about what happened with Turks in the Caucasus and Balkans in that time? Why today Albans, Bosnians, Georgians in Turkey are more than in their countries? Because they also experienced that pain and were forced to move. But we donâ€™t accuse some Balkan people in genocide today and we donâ€™t accuse Russians because of Chechens and Abkhazian people were forced to move to Turkey. All Ahiska Turks were exiled from their homeland during Stalin period, but we donâ€™t accuse Russia in genocide against the Ahiska Turks because all of these were left behind. These are only memories todayâ€.
Davutoglu said they were willing to hold debates and discussions over 1915 events. â€œDonâ€™t hear only one-side story. You must learn stories of both sidesâ€.
Focusing attention on gradual impoverishment in Armenia, Davutoglu said they were ready to work together with this country. He said new Caucasus and normalization process could be based only on mutual understanding and respect. He also emphasized necessity for normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia as well. â€œArmenian-Azerbaijani relations should also be normalized. If there are no normal relations between these two countries, there will be one-legged cooperation in the regionâ€.

Davutogly spoke about his dreams of Kars-Yerevan-Baku highway. â€œIf Armenia wants peace in the region, it must reach peace with Azerbaijan and withdraw its forces from the occupied Azerbaijani landsâ€.