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Turkish lawmakers strongly condemn Armenian presidentâ€™s statement â€“ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

28 July 2011 15:34 (UTC +04:00)

Istanbul. Mayis Alizadeh â€“ APA. Members of the Turkish parliament strongly condemned the Armenian president Serzh Sargsyanâ€™s latest statement. Former vice speaker of the parliament, MP from AKP Nevzat Pakdil (Kahramanmaras) told APAâ€™s Turkey bureau that by making this statement Armenian president instigates to hostility: â€œIf I put it mildly, â€œthis is very unlucky statementâ€. People have to live in peace, but such statements instigate to hate and hostility. This is provocation that they occupied the lands of Azerbaijan and express this occupation like â€œwe fulfilled our duty and now the young generations have to get back â€œWestern Armeniaâ€. This is not a manner of head of state. Our Prime Minister said that Sargsyan has to offer an apology. Azerbaijani Presidentâ€™s statement was also to the point. They occupied the Azerbaijani lands and now provoke the young people against the historic state borders. It is unbecoming to a statesman. I believe he will apologize and correct the situationâ€.

Answering the APAâ€™s question â€œhow the Armeniaâ€™s policy against the Turkeyâ€™s friendly steps will impact on the regional processes?â€, Nevzat Pakdil said: â€œTurkey is always trying to be friendly country. Most important issue is to liberate Azerbaijani lands from the occupation. We will defend Azerbaijanâ€™s rightful cause in any case. It needs to estimate the results of political statement while making it. I demand immediate apology for this statement full with false and distortionsâ€.

Parliamentarian from CHP Adana Faruk Logoglu told APA that Armenian Presidentâ€™s statement is wrong and does not reflect the reality.
â€œAzerbaijani Presidentâ€™s answer is the proper assessment of Sargsyanâ€™s statement. This statement is also wrong, as it addresses the youth. The youth must be led to peace, property, stability. Sargsyanâ€™s statement shows the youth the way of instability, non-peace, non-prosperity,â€ he said.

To APAâ€™s question â€œAzerbaijan remains committed to the peace process. How will such statements influence the peace process?â€, former Turkish ambassador to Baku Faruk Logoglu said:
â€œIt is impossible not to take this statement seriously. One must not close the peace channels and ways, because of such statements. It would be wrong to suspend the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan just because of Sargsyanâ€™s statement.â€

Deputy chairman of MHP, parliamentarian from Ankara Tugrul Turkesh regarded Sargsyanâ€™s statement as unbecoming to a statesman.
â€œYou are president of Armenia and say such words. It is unbecoming to a statesman. Secondly, such words justify the aggression. This statement admits the aggression. No one has the right for aggression â€“ but Armenian President admits that he has created a de facto situation. On the other hand, no territory has been got back. Both the UN and OSCE are making efforts to put an end to the occupation. The persons displaced from Karabakh must return. Therefore, Armenia is obliged to get on with both Azerbaijan and Turkey. They must issue statement thinking about it,â€ he said.

To APAâ€™s question â€œWhat expects Zurich protocols after such negative statements of the Armenian side?â€ Tugrul Turkesh said:
â€œAnyway there was nothing in those protocols to confirm. The government agreed to sign the protocols for the reasons unknown for us. But later the government could not see the bottom of the well and did not bring the protocols to the parliamentâ€™s session. Sargsyanâ€™s statements show how much our protests and warnings were right,â€ he said.