Azerbaijani-American organizations have commended the Turkish PM’s position on Turkish-Armenian rapprochement and the Karabakh conflict.
They have also expressed concern at the US Congress decision to allocate aid to the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic.
A press release issued on 10 December said:
"The Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC) and Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) welcome the remarks made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his meeting with President Obama in the White House on 7 December 2009. In his speech, Mr Erdogan explicitly indicated that Turkish-Armenian reconciliation is ’very much related’ to Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue and to progress made by the OSCE Minsk Group in resolving the Karabakh conflict. Speaking later on the same day at a press conference in Washington, the prime minister also highlighted a possibility that the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia on 10 October 2009 may not be ratified by the Turkish parliament without visible progress on the Karabakh settlement.
"Mr Erdogan’s comments should serve as a strong reality check for the Armenian leadership that its attempts to use the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement as an excuse for further derailing the Karabakh peace process are counter productive. The very purpose of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation is to bring peace, stability and prosperity to the volatile region of the South Caucasus. But this cannot be achieved in the region while Armenia continues to flagrantly violate several UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, occupying Mountainous Karabakh and seven other regions of Azerbaijan. Due to the irredentist and unconstructive position assumed by Armenia for the past 16 years, over 800,000 Azeri civilians are unable to return to their homes in Karabakh and surrounding areas.
“The AAC and ASA once more join all Azerbaijani-Americans in commending Prime Minister Erdogan for his principled position to bring a just and lasting peace to the region of the South Caucasus. With understanding of the inseparability of the two processes, we support both the ongoing attempts to peacefully settle the Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group and the attempts by Turkey and Armenia to resolve their historical difference.”
