Kaan Soyak, co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council, outlines the current state of rapprochement between the two countries.
On discussions about Armenian citizens working illegally in Turkey, Kaan Soyak, said that it would be fairer and more constructive to use the term ‘guest Armenians’, rather than ‘illegal Armenians’. In a statement to an Anatolia news agency correspondent, Soyak said, 'The addresses of the Armenian citizens that have come to our country are known. They are not hiding. They are here working as guests and trying to contribute to their families in Armenia.' Soyak said, 'They are our guests. Though we realized that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meant in his remarks in London that Turkey shows good will and hospitality to the Armenian guest workers in Turkey, his speech was unfortunately not understood in this way at the international level. Our phones have been ringing constantly since this statement was made. We are trying to clear up this misunderstanding.'
'The approval of the genocide resolutions by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Swedish parliament has aggravated the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia, which is struggling on thanks to the devotion and efforts of diplomats and politicians of both countries,' Soyak said. 'It is no secret that for both American and European politicians the concerns of their electorate take precedence over Turkey. Turkey must solve its own problems without giving others scope to comment about it.'
The co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council said that it was essential that politicians in both countries were encouraged to make diplomatic statements with support from officials so that Turkish-Armenian relations might continue their fragile progress.
Nagorno-Karabakh and Turkish-Armenian rapprochement
Soyak commented that March and April were important times for genocide resolutions and particularly for Turkish-American relations. 'Why does Turkey face these genocide resolutions?,' Soyak asked. 'Because Turkey has not been able to get its parliament to approve the protocols,' he said. 'The government is confronted with the great block of opposition parties on this matter. The genocide resolution would not have been brought before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee and Turkey would not have worried about what American President Barack Obama would say on 24 April if the protocols had been approved by the Assembly.' Soyak said that another reason that Turkey had not had the protocols approved in the Grand National Assembly was that it supported Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh.
'Those who work closely in the region are aware that the Caucasus is Russia's backyard and Russia is not ready to make complete peace in the region. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are waiting for a Russian decision to make peace in the Caucasus. This waiting period has nothing to do with Turkey. It is not certain when it will be decided. The Turkish opposition parties do not know this fact and the Turkish people are misguided.'
Lobbying in the USA
Commenting on the work done in the USA, Soyak said that Turkey, through its embassy, was putting every effort into contact with the US Administration and the House of Representatives. Soyak said that Azerbaijan should not leave Turkey alone during this highly important period. 'Azerbaijan should take action,' Soyak said. 'Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev should call Barack Obama to ask him to block the resolution, members of the Azerbaijani parliament should lobby in DC together with Turkish diplomats and urge the representatives of American oil companies in Azerbaijan to lobby against the resolution.'
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