Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend S.Ilhamgizi / Democracy in Azerbaijan will be strengthened and meet the European standards, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said in a news conference in Baku on 7 November.
Gul said that the key objective of Azerbaijan and Turkey, which are members of the Council of Europe, is democracy. "Democracy is instilling year by year, but the will takes the key role here. Former late Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev demonstrated this will in Azerbaijan. I believe that Ilham Aliyev [Azerbaijani President] is striving to it," he stressed.
The Turkish leader is sure that every country has shortages in democracy. Turkey holds reforms and corrects the shortages. "The selection of right direction to the democracy is the major element."
Regarding the visa regime between Azerbaijan and Turkey, Gul said being the foreign minister of Turkey he canceled visa regime with all Turkic speaking countries. He explains the maintenance of the visa regime with Azerbaijan with some technical problems of Baku. Turkey approaches it with understanding. "We believe that the issue will be removed from the agenda in the near future," he said.
With respect to support to Azerbaijan's position in the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, the Turkish President said his country is against the occupation and forced change of borders. Turkey backs peace methods in the resolution of conflicts in the Caucasus. " Turkey, aspiring to resolve many problems through peace, cannot ignore the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict." He also voiced his gratitude to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for support in the issue regarding the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
