Azerbaijan, Baku, 16 June / Trend corr Y. Aliyev, S. Ilhamgizi/ Trend ' exclusive interview with the Speaker of the Great National Assembly (Parliament) of Turkey Koksal Toptan:
Question: Will the Turkish and Azerbaijani Parliaments be able to establish the Parliamentary Assembly and other unions of Turkic speaking countries?
Answer: Establishment of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic speaking countries was initiated during the life of the late Heydar Aliyev. Later Nursultan Nazarbayev made the same initiative. Turkey has always supported the idea. A meeting of the Deputy Speakers of Turkic speaking countries' Parliaments took place in Antalya and a unified text was developed. Then Astana hosted one more meeting in March. It was decided to hold a meeting of Speakers of Turkic speaking countries' Parliaments at the end of this year. In written form I invited Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to join the process, as only Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Azerbaijan participated in the first meeting.
Turkmenistan responded that they are watching the process and may participate in the Parliamentary Assembly at least as observers in future. Uzbekistan has not responded and we will continue our efforts.
The meeting of the Deputy Speakers decided to involve not only Turkic speaking countries but also Turkic communities in the process as observers. I am dealing with the issue through the Turkish Foreign Ministry. I believe we will achieve an interesting thing. The situation will definitely clear up by the end of this year.
Question: Armenia and pro-Armenians are still popularizing the so-called 'Armenian genocide' of 1915. Do the Turkish and Azerbaijani Parliaments take joint measures against deceitful Armenian propaganda?
Answer: Turkey and Azerbaijan stick to the unified position and carry out the similar work against Armenia's false claims. There are wrong and negative opinions about us all over the world under the influence of the Armenian Diaspora. We are doing our best, our scientists are working, and we are disseminating scientific research in various languages to inform the world of the truth. The Turkish Premier Rajab Tayyib Erdogan called on to jointly investigate the invented 'genocide' from historical viewpoint and to study archives. Turkey stated that it is ready to study archives. If there are any interested parties, they also can open their archives and help to solve this problem. I think that this call should be continued. However, it is obvious that the claims about 'genocide' are probably the policy of the Armenian Diaspora. If Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is solved and Armenia withdraws from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, there will be stability in the region and there will be no problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia and Turkey and Armenia. If there is stability in our region, it will be Armenia who will benefit from it.
Question: Greece has proposed Cyprus to be federation. What is Turkey's position in this regard?
Answer:We support the existence of two states in the island enjoying full rights. The position of Turkey should be taken into consideration while solving this problem. If Turkey's position is considered, the problem will be solved completely. Then the proposals on federation can be discussed. Turkey supports the meeting of presidents.
Question: What kind of meetings and discussions are expected to be held during your visit to Azerbaijan?
Answer: I will visit Azerbaijan on 17 June to take part in the events on the 90th anniversary of the Azerbaijani parliament. The first part of the visit will be official. I will meet with Ilham Aliyev and the speaker Ogtay Asadov. The cooperation in economy, trade, education and other spheres between the two fraternal countries will be discussed in these meetings. I should mention that the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey can serve as an example for the other countries.
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