Israel, Jerusalem /corr. Trend R.Mammadov / Trend exclusive interview with the Foreign Minister of Turkey, Ali Babajan.
- What is your opinion of the current level of cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan?
- Azerbaijan is our fraternal country. Cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan is based on deep historical roots. Our peoples are connected by the ancestors formed over many centuries. Friendship and cooperation has strengthened further in recent years. Today Turkey and Azerbaijan have reached a close unity and developing economically our countries surely head towards the future. Azerbaijan is carrying out international projects which will assist in strengthening stability and security, economic development and integration of the region. Turkey actively participates in all these global projects. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project form new stages of development in the region. Consolidating our efforts regard to this and coordinating our policies, we can fully ensure the economic interests of the two countries. Currently commercial and economic relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are developing intensively, but yet it does not fully reflect the existing potential - we should use this potential. There are high-level relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan. We have good reliable relations with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. It is not incidental that the newly elected President of Turkey, Abdulla Gul, will make one of his official visits to Azerbaijan at the beginning of next month.
- Recently it became known that the issue of opening borders between Turkey and Armenia was on the agenda again. What do you think of this?
- You are well aware of current relations between Turkey and Armenia. Obstacles to the development of relations between the two countries are presented on the one hand and problems in the history of our people on the other hand, by the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia which resulted from Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan. In this situation, Turkish diplomacy seeks and tries to find ways of dialogue with Armenia.
Recently participating at the General Assembly in New York, I met with the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanyan and I told him that we are neighbors and we need to exist in the way of dialogue and cooperation. We have historical problems, but we should try to regulate our problems in a peaceful and civilized manner and should look to the future.
- What role may Turkey play in regulating the conflict between Azerbaijan and Turkey?
- We have knowledge of the history and real situation of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We believe that in the near future Azerbaijan and Armenia will find realistic potential chances to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh problem peacefully. Turkey, as a fraternal country of Azerbaijan, is prepared to act as a political mediator to regulate the situation and achieve peace. We want our region to become the region of peace, dialogue and welfare. We very much want the 21st century to become the century of resolving conflicts, but not the century of confrontation and war. We wish all problems between the states, including territorial problems, to be resolved through political talks and consensus. It is a fundamental thesis of our foreign policy.
If we look through the foreign policy of Turkey, we can see relations Turkey had with Greece ten years ago and have now. In addition, we had problems with other neighboring countries. It is possible to speak of Syrian-Turkish relations, where only confrontations were in existence ten years ago, but today we are actively cooperating. We will apply this conception in resolving problems between other countries. We consider that the problems in Iraq, the Arabian-Israeli conflict and the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict need to be politically resolved. We highlight this at meetings with many State Heads and Foreign Ministers.
- What are you thinking of the prospects of regulating Arabian-Israeli conflict within your diplomatic tour in the Near East?
- During my visit to the Near East, I am planning to visit nine countries in this region. I have already been to Syria and held talks in Israel and the Palestinian Autonomy. The visit was aimed at determining how Turkey, as a large and influential country, can assist in regulating historical Arabian-Israeli conflict. During the talks, I became aware that there are many points of contact between Israel and Palestine. In addition, I sent an invitation to the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, to make an official visit to Turkey. We have very good reliable relations with Israel and economic relations between the two countries are growing each year. During my talks with the Prime Minister of Israel and with the Chairman of Palestinian Autonomy, Mahmud Abbas, I made sure that the sides are very decisively inclined towards peace and dialogue. We believe that the Near Eastern conference in Annapolis will be prepared very well and the countries attending the conference will assist Israel and the Palestinian Autonomy in achieving a peaceful agreement between the countries. Turkey, as a country having historical roots in the Near East, hopes this very much.