Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 23 / Trend News M.Aliyev /
A summit of the European Azerbaijani Congress and Azerbaijani-Turkish Diaspora Organization Coordination Council adopted an appeal today to the Azerbaijani and Turkish presidents and parliaments, the Azerbaijani State Committee for the Diaspora said.
The European Azerbaijani Congress and Azerbaijani-Turkish Diaspora Organization Coordination Council are holding a joint meeting in Frankfurt, Germany Nov. 21-22.
Azerbaijani Parliamentary Vice Speaker Bahar Muradova and Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Social and Political Department head Ali Hasanov participated at the meeting, as well as State Committee for Diaspora Activities Chairman Nazim Ibrahimov, Azerbaijani MPs Sabir Rustamkhanli and Fazil Mustafayev, several Turkish MPs, scientists and intellectuals from the European Azerbaijani Congress and Azerbaijani-Turkish Diaspora Organization Coordination Council.
The protocol on establishing diplomatic relations and protocol for the development of bilateral relations signed Oct.10 between Turkey and Armenia have caused serious concern among the Azerbaijani and Turkish societies, as well as thousands of Azerbaijanis and Turks living abroad, the report said.
"We believe this will cause the strengthening of Armenia in its non-constructive position in the negotiations for a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, along with the negative influence of the possible outcomes of these agreements on the relationship between these two brotherly countries," the committee said in a statement.
These protocols significantly reduce the hope for a just solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Restoring relations with Turkey, on the backdrop of the unresolved conflict, may give Armenia economic and political advantages and strengthen Yerevan's position, the statement added.
"The Armenian diaspora and lobby sought to exert pressure on Ankara for many years to open Turkey's borders with Armenia via influential states and international organizations," the statement said. "However, in 1993, Turkey put forward the liberation of the occupied Azerbaijani territories as a main condition to resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We believe Turkey and its leadership will remain faithful to this principle, friendship and fraternal ties between our peoples. At the same time, we are confident that the promises given to the Azerbaijani people by Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish Grand National Assembly on the non-ratification of the protocols signed with Armenia until the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be fulfilled."
Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocols in Zurich Oct. 10.
Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey were broken due to Armenian claims of an alleged genocide and its occupation of Azerbaijani lands. Their border closed in 1993.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Representatives of the Turkish government have repeatedly stated the impossibility of opening the Turkish-Armenian border until Azerbaijani lands de-occupied.
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