Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Azerbaijan aims at Turkish support through closer ties with Cyprus -

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Azerbaijan aims at Turkish support through closer ties with Cyprus -

    Azerbaijan aims at Turkish support through closer ties with Cyprus - daily

    Zerkalo, Baku
    19 Jul 05

    Excerpt from K. Quluzada report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on
    19 July headlined "Azerbaijan de-facto recognized the Turkish Cyprus"
    and subheaded "In response, the Greeks are threatening Baku with
    supporting Nagornyy Karabakh".

    The latest moves by Baku mean a de-facto recognition of the Turkish
    Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Turkish Prime Minister Recep
    Tayyip Erdogan said prior to his visit to Russia.

    [Passage omitted: TRNC president says Azerbaijan's moves will help
    them out of international isolation; details of Erdogan's visit to
    Baku in June]

    Baku's position provoked a sharp reaction in Greece, the Greek part
    of Cyprus and Armenia. Calls started to be voiced at different levels
    in these countries in response to official Baku's plans to recognize
    the independence of the "Nagornyy Karabakh Republic" (NKR). Besides,
    the Greek community of Cyprus made a "threat" to open direct flights
    to Nagornyy Karabakh.

    We should note that there is quite a lot of resemblance between the
    Karabakh and Cyprus problems. Despite its strategic alliance with
    Turkey, Azerbaijan has so far avoided openly supporting the TRNC
    as this may create a precedent for the international recognition of
    "unrecognized republics", one of which is the "NKR".

    Taking into consideration the existence of the Karabakh problem, the
    position of Greece on the Cyprus issue should be closer to that of
    Azerbaijan, rather than that of Turkey. What is more, a reverse effect
    is also at work here. From a logical point of view, it would be more
    advantageous to Ankara to obtain international recognition [for TRNC]
    from any separatist formation, including Nagornyy Karabakh, because
    in such a case, a chance arises to legitimize the TRNC. However,
    due to the mutual aversion that has formed historically between the
    two alliances - Azerbaijan-Turkey and Armenia-Greece, Baku supports
    Ankara and Ankara supports Baku.

    What has happened now, after all? Why did [Azerbaijani President]
    Ilham Aliyev decide to change the policy towards the TRNC that was
    previously conducted by [the late President] Heydar Aliyev? Will this
    lead to the "NKR" getting out of international isolation?

    The thing is that during the referendum held in Cyprus, the Greek
    community refused to join the EU together with the Turkish community,
    while the majority of the northern community accepted this plan of
    settlement. After this, a new international atmosphere formed around
    the Cyprus problem. The USA, the EU and even Russia (the details will
    follow later) favoured taking the TRNC out of it's isolation. The
    Turkish Cypriots started to be regarded as being more ready for
    compromise than the Greek Cypriots. This, in principle, could serve as
    a reason for Baku to give Ankara more active and more visual support.

    Besides, the intention to lift the TRNC's international isolation
    is possibly a signal from the Azerbaijani authorities to the public
    of the country about the possibility of the Karabakh settlement
    developing in the same way. Besides, it cannot be ruled out that
    the Azerbaijani authorities are trying towards not so much the
    international recognition of the TRNC as towards finding additional
    markets in order to invest surplus funds available in the country.

    True, with this, Azerbaijan's policy on compiling "a black list"
    of companies operating in the "NKR" becomes quite scrupulous. The
    aspiration of the Azerbaijani authorities to obtain additional
    support from Ankara in the run-up to the parliamentary election
    can be considered as another factor. The supposed reasons for the
    change in Azerbaijan's foreign policy priorities are very diverse,
    but they do not exclude each other. One thing is clear: Ilham Aliyev
    is conducting a more active policy with regard to the TRNC than the
    authorities in the 10 years before him. To all appearances, the most
    important factor here is precisely the change in the international
    atmosphere around the Cyprus problem.

    [Passage omitted: details of the meeting between the Russian president
    and Turkish premier in Sochi]
Working...
X