"Though Turkey's current government deals a blow to our certain interests by its decisions, we must not lose this country. We must maintain high level relations," chairman of opposition Azerbaijan Democratic Party Sardar Jalaloglu said.
Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993 because of Armenia's false "genocide" claims and occupation of 20% of Azerbaijani lands. Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan on September 6, 2008 at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisyan to watch Armenia-Turkey football match within the European Cup. Efforts have been made since then to normalize ties between the two countries.
Jalaloglu said Turkey's Prime Minister announced some time ago that changes in their policy regarding Armenia have been coordinated with the Azerbaijani government.
"Secondly, Turkey has its own top-priority interests and it must ensure them. Third, I think policy of Armenia's blockade is not effective any more," the ADP chairman said.
He said Azerbaijan's blockade on Armenia did not enable the country to participate in trans-regional projects. "This process is already over. There are no projects any more not to enable Armenia to participate in it," Jalaloglu said.
Jalaloglu said about 3 million Armenians in Turkey keep contact with Armenia via different means. "Turkey's decision to open borders would mean to formalize the mechanism which operated unofficially so far. Unfortunately, Turkey must have taken into consideration that the Karabakh problem remains unresolved while taking this step. If Turkish authorities say they have taken this step taking into consideration state's interests, we can not say something," he said.
The right-wing ADP was founded by Sardar Jalaloglu in1991. The party had been occupying a radical position against the authorities by January 2007 when it took a new political course to dialogue with the authorities. Rasul Guliyev, the former chairman of the party, and his supporters separated from the party protesting against its new political course and founded their new Open Society Party. "Azerbaijan must provide a serious reaction to Turkey's opening borders with Armenia," opposition Umid party chairman and member of parliament Igbal Agazade told Trend News.
He said Turkey and Azerbaijan took a joint action for a long time to prevent recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide. "They have shared the same position in implementation of some transnational projects. They could make concessions towards each-other. Azerbaijan undertook more responsibility in last years," he said.
Agazade said the chief goal of Azerbaijan's participation in these processes was to prevent opening of Turkey-Armenia borders. "If Turkey changes priorities, it should give an explanation to Azerbaijan. Because changing years-old policy can cause problems," he added.
He said opening of Turkey-Armenia borders can mark beginning of new policy in the South Caucasus. "Both Azerbaijani government and opposition must hold discussions with Turkish authorities on this situation," Agazade said.
The oppositional Umid Party was founded in 1993. The Civil Solidarity Party (CSP) joined it in 2002. The former chairman of CSP Igbal Agazade was elected chairman of Umid Party. Agazade is also MP of the Azerbaijani parliament.
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