Turkey has conveyed its concerns to the United States about Azerbaijan not being invited to the upcoming nuclear summit in Washington, D.C., diplomatic sources have told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
“We have passed on the message that it is not correct to not invite Baku to an international event where Armenia will be represented,” said the sources, adding that Washington responded by providing Ankara with information about the criteria used to determine the states would be invited to participate.
Heads of state and government from more than 40 countries will participate in the summit hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday and Tuesday.
“We are following this issue very closely,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told reporters Friday in the Central Anatolian province of Konya. “We have engaged necessary contacts with all the parties concerned.”
Davutoğlu did not elaborate further on his remarks.
Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu, Turkey’s top diplomat, held talks Friday in Baku where he conveyed a letter from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Diplomatic sources said the visit also aimed to compensate for Baku’s non-participation in the nuclear summit.
In Baku, Sinirlioğlu also met with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Memmedyarov, who had spoken by telephone a day previously with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoğlu.
Turkey has informed Baku about Sinirlioğlu’s meetings in Yerevan early this week and Davutoğlu’s talks in France, one of the countries co-chairing the Minsk Group, which aims to find a settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Three-way talks depend on Baku
Ambiguity persists over a possible meeting between Erdoğan and Obama in Washington. Diplomatic sources said the program is not yet clear, but did not rule out a pull-aside formula, in which Obama could hold brief talks with the Turkish premier on the margins of the summit.
There is also talk of a meeting on the sidelines of the Washington summit involving Obama, Erdoğan and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian. While in Baku, Sinirlioğlu was said to be testing the waters to see how Azerbaijani officials would react to the idea of such a three-way meeting.
Iran meanwhile plans to host a counter-summit April 17 to 18 that is expected to draw large participation. Though Iran has extended an invitation to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, diplomatic sources said Davutoğlu’s presence at the Tehran event is a “weak possibility” because of the minister’s scheduled visit to Brazil.
The sources indicated, however, that another official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry could represent Turkey at the summit in Iran.
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