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 ANKARA
(Hurriyet)—As the Turkish and Armenian presidents met to discuss
the establishment of bilateral ties on the margins of a football
match Wednesday, a group of Azeri deputies flew to the Turkish
capital in an effort to convince Turkish lawmakers to postpone
the ratification of the protocols signed between Ankara and
Yerevan on Saturday.
Eleven deputies from the Azerbaijani
parliament met Tuesday with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin in Ankara. The deputies
requested that top Turkish officials not ratify the protocols
signed with Armenia until Yerevan withdraws from the Azerbaijani
territories it has occupied since the early 1990s.
Broadcaster NTV said the deputies were
satisfied with the messages they received from Erdogan. The
prime minister assured them that Turkey would not act against
Azerbaijani interests.
Azerbaijan has criticized the agreement
between Turkey and Armenia, saying it aggravates the dispute
over its breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh despite the fact
that Turkey is still holding the settlement of the territorial
dispute as a precondition for the opening of the borders.
The Azeri Foreign Ministry said Sunday that
the agreement “clouds the spirit of brotherly relations” between
Azerbaijan and Turkey. It said Turkey should not have
re-established diplomatic ties with Armenia before the conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh was settled.
“The normalization of relations between
Turkey and Armenia before the withdrawal of Armenian troops from
occupied Azeri territory is in direct contradiction to the
national interests of Azerbaijan,” the Azeri Foreign Ministry
said.
The ministry added the deal casts a shadow
over the fraternal relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey,
which are built on historical roots. “Considering the importance
of the opening of all borders and communication in the region,
Azerbaijan believes the unilateral opening of the Turkey-Armenia
border calls into question the architecture of regional peace
and security.”
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