Turkey’s Babacan traveled to Armenia but nothing was signed

Senior Azerbaijani diplomat in Yerevan for BSEC Council meeting

by Tatul Hakobyan

Published: Thursday April 16, 2009

Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, Azerbaijan’s Mahmoud Mamedkuliyev, Armenia’s Edward Nalbandian, BSEC Secretary General Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, and Turkey’s Ali Babacan at the meeting of the BSEC Council in Yerevan, April 16, 2009. Photolure

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Toward regional cooperation

Yerevan - The Wall Street Journal and other influential newspapers citing unnamed senior diplomats had reported that on April 16 Armenia and Turkey "could" sign an agreement to establish diplomatic relations. Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan was in fact in Yerevan today, to participate in the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), but no document was signed with Armenia.

"I can say that there is no intention to sign today any document on Armenian-Turkish relations," said Edward Nalbandian, Armenia's foreign minister, at a press conference following the BSEC meeting, which he chaired. Armenian-Turkish "negotiations continue. We have made progress and think that we can really resolve these issues in the near future," he continued.

However, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia did not even hold a separate meeting during Mr. Babacan's visit. Instead, taking the opportunity of being in Yerevan together, Mr. Babacan and the foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, held a meeting. Of the 12 BSEC member states, only Armenia, Russia, and Turkey participated in the meeting at the foreign minister level.

Iran admitted as a partner

Among the delegations at the BSEC meeting was one from Azerbaijan, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mamedkuliyev - who is married to President Ilham Aliyev's older sister. This was the first official Azerbaijani delegation in Armenia in years. The six-month rotating chairmanship of BSEC moves on May 1 from Armenia to Azerbaijan; the ceremonial handoff took place today.

Ambassador Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos, who was confirmed as BSEC's secretary general for a second term at this meeting, noted at the press conference that two BSEC member states, Turkey and Azerbaijan, have no diplomatic relations with another member state, Armenia. He said one of the main decisions of the BSEC meeting was to grant partner status to Iran.

"Iran is a country that was missing in the area," Mr. Chrysanthopoulos said. "BSEC will establish cooperation with Iran in different spheres. In particular, in agriculture, energy, and transport," he added.

Favoring linkage

Azerbaijan's deputy foreign minister was asked about his government's position on Armenian-Turkish dialog. His government announces, on the one hand, that it welcomes all steps that could lead to the resolution of existing issues in the region. On the other hand, Azerbaijan is opposed to the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border and the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia.

"We follow the process with interest, and our position is that the restoration of relations between Armenia and Turkey can only be linked to the resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan," Mr. Mamedkuliyev said in response, after making a ritual claim that Azerbaijan does not interfere in the "domestic affairs" of other countries and saying that Baku regards contacts between Armenia and Turkey to be a matter for the two countries involved.

Mr. Mamedkuliyev said, "The development of relations between Armenia and Turkey was in time interrupted and the main reason was the occupation of Azerbaijani territory."

Turkey's role over Karabakh

Abdullah Gül, the Turkish president, recently announced that Turkey is participating in negotiations with Azerbaijan and Armenia. Mr. Nalbandian was asked about the mechanism for Turkey's participation. He noted in response that the negotiations are being mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, and specifically by the U.S., Russian, and French co-chairs of the Minsk Group. "That is the format of the negotiations, and no other format exists. Turkey does not play a role as a mediator in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said.

The Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister said Baku welcomes the efforts of any country toward the resolution of the conflict. "If there are specific and realistic proposals, we are prepared to study them. The continuation of the conflict gives no side an advantage; the conflict must be resolved within the norms and principles of international law as it exists. Turkey is a member of the Minsk Group and one of the most important countries in the region," he said.

The president of Armenia, Serge Sargsian, received the participants in the meeting of the BSEC Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

Armenian leadership

Armenia is one of the founding members of BSEC and is concluding its six-month terms as chairman-in-office. With Armenia in the chair, Mr. Nalbandian said, more than 50 documents and two declarations were signed through the organization.

"Over the past six months Armenia exerted efforts to move BSEC forward through the growing challenges of the contemporary world in the condition of deepening financial crisis" said Mr. Nalbandian.

The head of the Azerbaijani delegation said, "regional cooperation will be successful if there is the atmosphere of peace, stability and security. Therefore our attempts will go to increase the activity of our organization to care about existing conflicts in the Black Sea area. Unfortunately, we are having some situation which is not very supportive for full regional cooperation," he said.

BSEC was launched as a regionally owned initiative, with Turkey's lead, in 25 June 1992 at the Istanbul Summit. The idea that stronger economic cooperation among the Black Sea countries would enhance peace and stability in the region was the underlying philosophy behind BSEC.