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U.S. Secretary of State, Turkish President and Prime Minister phoned Azerbaijani President asking him to participate in the event in Istanbul

06 April 2009 11:18 (UTC +04:00)

Istanbul. Mayis Alizadeh â€“ APA. Turkish President Abdullah Gul and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have today phoned Azerbaijanâ€™s President Ilham Aliyev asking him to participate in The Alliance of Civilizations in Istanbul. According to APAâ€™s Turkey bureau Turkey-based Referans newspaper and hurriyyet.daily.com reported it.

APAâ€™s local bureau reports quoting sources in Turkey that Turkeyâ€™s President Abdullah Gul first phoned Azerbaijani President. The head of state protested against the issue on opening of Turkey-Armenia borders and did not change his decision on refusing to participate in the event.

Following this, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Azerbaijani President. Prime Minister could not change the presidentâ€™s decision, either.

Then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton phoned to Azerbaijani President and told about the prospects of meeting between Azerbaijani and US leaders in Istanbul, but the head of state of Azerbaijan has not changed his decision not to attend the event.
Turkish sources said in all phone conversations, the President of Azerbaijan expressed his protest against the opening of Turkish-Armenian borders and said it caused great protest among the Azerbaijani society. The head of state said that this process would have a negative impact on the processes in the South Caucasus and on the relations between the two countries as well.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev refused to attend the â€œAlliance of Civilizationsâ€ meeting in Istanbul because of reports on the Turkeyâ€™s preparation to open the borders with Armenia.

APA was first to report about the Presidentâ€™s refusal to visit Istanbul.