Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 21 / Trend, E. Mehdiyev /
Turkish President Abdullah Gul's congratulation of Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan over his re-election was a hasty decision, head of the working group on inter-parliamentary relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, MP Nizami Jafarov said today.
"I think that it was a hasty decision," he told Trend today. "Of course, we can not interfere in Turkey's internal affairs. Also, in terms of what is best for Azerbaijan, Gul could congratulate Sargsyan later or not congratulate him at all."
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations, he said.
"We can neither protest against this congratulation nor accept it," he said. "Turkey has made such gestures towards Armenia before. Of course, Turkey is a large country. In this sense, certain gestures were intended to help normalize relations with Armenia, and perhaps to persuade Armenians to fall silent on the 'genocide' question"."
The MP said that the situation is in fact different. It became clear that Armenia will not back down.
Therefore, it would be better if Turkey held a tough position against Armenia.
Earlier, Turkish President Abdullah Gul congratulated Serzh Sargsyan on his re-election as the Armenian president.
Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey's predecessor, the Ottoman Empire committed genocide in 1915 against Armenians living in Anadolu. Their efforts have achieved the recognition of the 'Armenian Genocide' by the parliaments of several countries.