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FOOTBALL DIPLOMACY AS VIEWED FROM AZERBAIJAN
Arzu Geybullayeva
Turkish Daily News
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Turkey
Here in Azerbaijan, the press followed President Abdullah Gul's short
visit to Yerevan for the football game very closely. The comments and
statements made by the government and the opposition regarding this
visit ranged from rational diplomatic "tolerance" to sentimentalism and
harsh criticism. On Sept. 3, a statement appeared in a local online
newspaper today.az by an independent but pro-government member of
parliament, Ms. Ganira Pashayeva: "No Azerbaijani can ever agree with
the Turkish president's visit to Armenia. This visit hurts us morally".
A similar statement was made by Ibrahim Ibrahimli, deputy chairman
of Musavat party, the leading opposition party, in the party's local
newspaper, Musavat, on Sept. 8, stating, "Personally I think President
Gul should not have gone to Yerevan ... It is possible to approach
Gul's visit to Yerevan as loyal but only from a political-diplomatic
perspective; from an emotional perspective it is hard to digest,"
he concluded.
The most negative assessments of President Gul's visit to Armenia
came from the public at large. This was revealed by the poll
conducted by the Ray Monitoring Center between Sept. 5 and 7 and
published at Interfax Azerbaijan online news portal - a branch of the
international news resource Interfax International Information Service
Group. According to the poll, only 9 percent of the respondents were
"positive" or "neutral" toward the visit, while 88 percent assessed
the visit "negatively" (3 percent found it hard to answer). Those
who explained the reason behind their negative approach largely
described it as an "unfriendly step toward Azerbaijan and betrayal
of the national interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan."
Baku reduced tension
However, the Azerbaijani government acted quite reasonably with
a view to reducing the reaction. The Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Elmar Mammadyarov, in his press conference Thursday, Sept. 4 said,
"This is purely Turkey's internal business and we (Azerbaijan) should
not interfere."
A member of the leading government party, Yeni Azerbaycan Partiyasi,
or YAP, Aydin Mirzazade, in his interview with the local newspaper
Echo, a Russian-language independent newspaper, said it was crucial
to treat Abdullah Gul's visit to Yerevan as a decision made by the
head of an independent state. Secondly, he explained this move was
the right decision on the part of Turkey due to Turkey's aim of
creating stability in this region. He also said this visit might
trigger the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and added,
"We (Azerbaijan) must approach this visit with understanding."
On the other hand, there were individuals in Azerbaijan who also
believed the West had an effect on Turkey's decision. Rasim Agayev,
who is a well-known political analyst, believes that this visit was
a move to boost Turkey's credentials in the eyes of the West. In
his statement to Echo on Sept. 6, he said, "By doing so (visiting
Armenia), President Gul, presented himself as a democrat and freed
his country's current administration of the image stamped on Turkey's
current ruling party being Islamist in nature."
Professor Lala Shovket Hajiyeva, leader of the opposition Azerbaijani
Liberal Party, said in an interview with ESI, "Nations have different
perspectives; despite having historical ties or similar ethnic
roots, it is important to understand this. Yes, Turkey is close
to us culturally and even traditionally but these are emotions;
interests of states are different from such emotional ties. So if
Turkey's intentions behind its visit to Armenia meant that it will
get it further in its bid to EU accession then it was a very smart
move on its behalf."
Gul's visit to Baku
President Gul's visit to Azerbaijan on Sept. 10 to some degree softened
the general atmosphere in the country. Both of the presidents stressed
the importance of the mutual relationship, especially with Turkey's
proposal for the creation of the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform. During the meeting between the two presidents issues such as
energy partnership, Gul's visit to Armenia, and the general political
and strategic situation in the Caucasus following the recent armed
conflicts between Georgia and Russia were discussed.
"Turkey always has been and will be on the side of Azerbaijan", said
Turkish President Gul in his joint press brief with President Ilham
Aliyev. During the briefing, President Gul stressed the importance
of the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well.
By far the hardest criticism came from the Musavat newspaper, in
which it said, "President Gul's visit to Azerbaijan is only seen as a
cover-up for its action (Gul's visit to Yerevan)." In the same issue
from Sept. 10, an independent local analyst, Elxan Mehdiyev, was quoted
saying, "Gul's visit to Azerbaijan is staged only to tell us that
Turkey is always by our side. However, I do not think it means much".
The last word is President Ilham Aliyev's and the relationship between
the AKP and YAP seems strong - dramatic shifts in the relationship
are thus not expected.
Arzu Geybullayeva
Turkish Daily News
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Turkey
Here in Azerbaijan, the press followed President Abdullah Gul's short
visit to Yerevan for the football game very closely. The comments and
statements made by the government and the opposition regarding this
visit ranged from rational diplomatic "tolerance" to sentimentalism and
harsh criticism. On Sept. 3, a statement appeared in a local online
newspaper today.az by an independent but pro-government member of
parliament, Ms. Ganira Pashayeva: "No Azerbaijani can ever agree with
the Turkish president's visit to Armenia. This visit hurts us morally".
A similar statement was made by Ibrahim Ibrahimli, deputy chairman
of Musavat party, the leading opposition party, in the party's local
newspaper, Musavat, on Sept. 8, stating, "Personally I think President
Gul should not have gone to Yerevan ... It is possible to approach
Gul's visit to Yerevan as loyal but only from a political-diplomatic
perspective; from an emotional perspective it is hard to digest,"
he concluded.
The most negative assessments of President Gul's visit to Armenia
came from the public at large. This was revealed by the poll
conducted by the Ray Monitoring Center between Sept. 5 and 7 and
published at Interfax Azerbaijan online news portal - a branch of the
international news resource Interfax International Information Service
Group. According to the poll, only 9 percent of the respondents were
"positive" or "neutral" toward the visit, while 88 percent assessed
the visit "negatively" (3 percent found it hard to answer). Those
who explained the reason behind their negative approach largely
described it as an "unfriendly step toward Azerbaijan and betrayal
of the national interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan."
Baku reduced tension
However, the Azerbaijani government acted quite reasonably with
a view to reducing the reaction. The Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Elmar Mammadyarov, in his press conference Thursday, Sept. 4 said,
"This is purely Turkey's internal business and we (Azerbaijan) should
not interfere."
A member of the leading government party, Yeni Azerbaycan Partiyasi,
or YAP, Aydin Mirzazade, in his interview with the local newspaper
Echo, a Russian-language independent newspaper, said it was crucial
to treat Abdullah Gul's visit to Yerevan as a decision made by the
head of an independent state. Secondly, he explained this move was
the right decision on the part of Turkey due to Turkey's aim of
creating stability in this region. He also said this visit might
trigger the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and added,
"We (Azerbaijan) must approach this visit with understanding."
On the other hand, there were individuals in Azerbaijan who also
believed the West had an effect on Turkey's decision. Rasim Agayev,
who is a well-known political analyst, believes that this visit was
a move to boost Turkey's credentials in the eyes of the West. In
his statement to Echo on Sept. 6, he said, "By doing so (visiting
Armenia), President Gul, presented himself as a democrat and freed
his country's current administration of the image stamped on Turkey's
current ruling party being Islamist in nature."
Professor Lala Shovket Hajiyeva, leader of the opposition Azerbaijani
Liberal Party, said in an interview with ESI, "Nations have different
perspectives; despite having historical ties or similar ethnic
roots, it is important to understand this. Yes, Turkey is close
to us culturally and even traditionally but these are emotions;
interests of states are different from such emotional ties. So if
Turkey's intentions behind its visit to Armenia meant that it will
get it further in its bid to EU accession then it was a very smart
move on its behalf."
Gul's visit to Baku
President Gul's visit to Azerbaijan on Sept. 10 to some degree softened
the general atmosphere in the country. Both of the presidents stressed
the importance of the mutual relationship, especially with Turkey's
proposal for the creation of the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform. During the meeting between the two presidents issues such as
energy partnership, Gul's visit to Armenia, and the general political
and strategic situation in the Caucasus following the recent armed
conflicts between Georgia and Russia were discussed.
"Turkey always has been and will be on the side of Azerbaijan", said
Turkish President Gul in his joint press brief with President Ilham
Aliyev. During the briefing, President Gul stressed the importance
of the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well.
By far the hardest criticism came from the Musavat newspaper, in
which it said, "President Gul's visit to Azerbaijan is only seen as a
cover-up for its action (Gul's visit to Yerevan)." In the same issue
from Sept. 10, an independent local analyst, Elxan Mehdiyev, was quoted
saying, "Gul's visit to Azerbaijan is staged only to tell us that
Turkey is always by our side. However, I do not think it means much".
The last word is President Ilham Aliyev's and the relationship between
the AKP and YAP seems strong - dramatic shifts in the relationship
are thus not expected.