Hurriyet Daily News: Azerbaijan and Turkey – shoulder to shoulder!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Dr. Elnur Aslanov

Eminent Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand wrote recently that Azerbaijan is on the sidelines of the processes in which Turkey is an active player.

Ankara’s diplomacy in the past year has shown that Armenia is taking an irrational stance. Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions are still under occupation. On the negotiating table are the Madrid principles, which have been accepted by Azerbaijan and rejected by Armenia.

In early April, the chief of Azerbaijan’s presidential administration came to Istanbul to meet journalists, including Mr. Birand, who had just gotten back from Yerevan. The meeting seemed to cover all the pressing issues in Azerbaijani-Turkish relations and the prospects for Armenian-Turkish reconciliation.

Azerbaijan has been negotiating with Armenia for 22 years and during that time we have often had to hope for friendly support. We have grown in strength politically and economically and shown ourselves to be a regional player. Throughout these years, we have relied on Turkey’s fraternal support when facing geopolitical and geo-economic problems and Turkey has never betrayed us.

We can see the same attitude now, when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan clearly says that there cannot be any change in Armenian-Turkish relations without achievements in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In turn, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev always expresses clear and open support for Turkey over the so-called Armenian “genocide.”

The Azerbaijani public, parliament and state officials have strongly condemned the recent decision of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. The people spoke out against injustice and the transformation of history into a means of political pressure. The Azerbaijani people have always been at Turkey’s side in all important issues.

When condemning the actions of the U.S. Congress, we remember that the U.S. legislature still has the anti-Azerbaijani Amendment 907, adopted in 1992, on the books. Under this amendment, Armenia, which is occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijani land, and unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh, receive tens of millions of dollars from the United States every year, while Azerbaijan is subjected to unjust pressure. This is a classic case of a double standard.

As a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the United States could have made more effort to establish peace in the region.

Justice is a relative concept in present-day international relations. Fifteen years ago, the U.N. Security Council, of which Turkey is currently a member, adopted four resolutions on the liberation of Azerbaijani land occupied by Armenia, but these requirements remain unmet.

And now, when Armenia is not giving up its aggressive policy or withdrawing from the occupied Azerbaijani land, why should we change our attitude toward it? Does anyone really think that if an aggressor is patted on the head, it will stop being aggressive? Has Armenia given up its claims to Turkish land or changed its attitude toward the recognition of the “genocide”? If anyone still considers Armenia a partner with whom historical consensus can be achieved, historical practice shows them to be wrong.

Unfortunately, Mr. Birand is still under the wrong impression about the one summit to which Azerbaijan was not invited. We believe that the nuclear summit is a starting point in the resolution of important regional issues. The participation of the Turkish side and its stated position on discussions about the Karabakh conflict gave the Azerbaijani side confidence that its interests would be defended by Turkey. There is a well-known saying, “An uninvited guest should not be served.”

The opinion that Azerbaijan is on the sidelines of discussions about the destiny of its land seems ridiculous. It is impossible since Karabakh is our pain and loss. The government of Prime Minister Erdoğan, which pursues an active policy to establish peace and stability in the region, feels the same pain. I would like to hope that you, Mr. Birand, feel at least the same grief about the loss of this land.

Today, the Azerbaijani diaspora in the United States is fighting alongside Turkish diaspora organizations against the aggressive intentions of the Dashnaks, who are seeking the adoption of a resolution on the so-called Armenian “genocide” in the U.S. Congress. Azerbaijanis and Turks throughout Europe are sparing no effort to avert Armenian attempts to falsify history. For example, thanks to the efforts of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Crimea, the Izum city council revoked a decision to recognize the Armenian “genocide” before 2010. It was the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, who initiated the first Forum of Azerbaijani and Turkish Diaspora Organizations of the World in Baku in March 2007.

Today, Azerbaijanis take pride in their independent statehood and are happy that present-day Turkey is a strong country and a powerful regional player. Turkey is a strong player in world politics today and this encourages Azerbaijan. No one should ever doubt that Azerbaijan and Turkey will always stand shoulder to shoulder!

* Dr. Elnur Aslanov is the chief of the Political Analyses and Information Support Department in the Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.