News.Az interviews professor Chagri Erkhan, director of the Center of Research of European peoples of the Ankara university.
How can you describe the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations in a year after the signing of the Turkish-Armenian protocols in Zurich?
The temporary crisis in the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations due to the signing of protocols between Turkey and Armenia in Zurich on 10 October 2009 promoted further strengthening of ties between Ankara and Baku.
At the same time, it should be admitted that emotional statements voiced at that period in both Azerbaijan and Turkey in relation to each other, deepened the crisis between the two countries which remained unsettled within a definite period of time. Only mutual actions taken by the authorities of Azerbaijan and Turkey in the relation to each other have suspended the deepening crisis. As for the reasons of emergency and worsening of crisis in the relation between Turkey and Azerbaijan, naturally there were several reasons. One of the main shortages in the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations at that period was the absence of coordination of actions between the two countries. The crisis has revealed the absence of coordination between the two countries. Then there may appear a question: how can it be that there was no coordination at such a level of relations, designated between Turkey and Azerbaijan as “one nation-two states”. Considering this, it is possible to say that there was no single and coordinated diplomacy between Turkey and Azerbaijan at that period. Therefore, Turkey and Azerbaijan should draw a lesson from this and take measures to avert its repetition in the future. This requires not only the creation of coordination in actions and diplomacy of Turkey and Azerbaijan but also no less important in prevention of such crisis between the two fraternal countries in the future is the formation of a single academic, educational and cultural space.
Which role did the United States play in signing the Zurich protocols?
Naturally, US role in this process is great. But this process should primarily be considered through the prism of the Turkish-American relations. I would like to remind that in 1999 Bill Clinton, visiting Turkey as the US president, described the Turkish-American relations as strategic. However, there was again a vacuum in the Turkish-American relations, accompanied with cooling due to Turkey’s refusal to allocate its military aerodromes in 2003 for their use by the United States for attacking Iran. A new stage emerged in the Turkish-American relations with Barack Obama coming to power and his visit to Turkey. Though, Obama has stated in Turkey that the Turkish-American relations are strategic, he, nevertheless, pointed at a new stage in the Turkish-American relations. During his visit to Turkey, Obama voiced intention to normalize the Turkish-Armenian relations. In other words, the Turkish-Armenian relations have started to be perceived as an integral part of the Turkish-American relations. Then protocols were signed in Zurich. In a response to Azerbaijan’s outrage in this respect, Turkey said the Azerbaijani side is informed about the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan. But the matter continued in a different way, in particular, Azerbaijan could familiarize with the text of the protocols thanks to Russia which presented them to Baku. In turn, Russia has received texts of the protocols from Armenia. Therefore, I am convinced that there was no coordination between Turkey and Azerbaijan at that time. Ankara and Baku should be coordinated in order to avert further distrust.
Then why was Ankara unwilling to inform Baku about the Turkish-Armenian protocols?
Both Turkey and Azerbaijan speak much of the fraternal relations between the two countries, but everything remains on words. It is necessary to fix these words in definite documents. The agreement of strategic partnership between Turkey and Azerbaijan should be fixed by numerous other agreements, beginning with documents in the military sphere and up to the documents in the sphere of culture.
The preservation of the visa regime remains a problem in the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations. As is known, Turkey annulled visa regime with Syria and Lebanon. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan continues the visa regime with Turkey.
Which role can the diasporas of Turkey and Azerbaijan play in prevention of recognition of the so-called “Armenian genocide” in the parliaments of other countries?
There are more Azerbaijanis than Turks in the United States. For example, the United States currently account for about 700,000 people of Azerbaijani origin against from 200,000 to 400,000 people of Turkish origin. Thus, the Azerbaijani and Turkish diasporas in the United States outnumber a million of people, overall. This is a huge power. The Azerbaijani and Turkish diasporas in the United States are united into different federations, communities and circles, therefore, it is necessary to coordinate their actions to settle mutual interests. These diasporas have common goals. If the authorities of Azerbaijan and Turkey come to an agreement on centralization and coordination of actions, they will turn into a mighty power. In such coordination of actions, it will be possible to attain any goals easily. The work held by these diasporas in the Congress and the government of the United States will be facilitated. If we, Azerbaijan and Turkey, had a strong lobby, the US Congress would have not blocked the appointment of the embassies in Baku and Ankara.
News.Az
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