Hurriyet and Haber Turk newspapers: Azerbaijan made greater efforts than Turkey towards preventing the adoption of the French Senate`s pro-Armenian bill

Turkish Hurriyet and Haber Turk newspapers have praised Azerbaijan`s position on the adoption by France`s Senate of a law criminalizing the denial of the so-called Armenian genocide. 
In her article, posted on the newspapers` websites, Zeynab Gurcanli says Azerbaijan made greater efforts than Turkey towards preventing the adoption of the French Senate`s pro-Armenian bill.
The author notes that recent rumors in Turkey alleging that Azerbaijan has not made enough efforts with respect to prevention of the adoption of the French Senate`s pro-Armenian bill "caused serious concerns within the Azerbaijani society".
"In Baku, everybody has been offended by this - from regular citizens to officials of the Presidential Administration and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from scholars to journalists as well as pro-government and opposition parliamentarians. The general opinion is that ‘we are trying our best, and will continue doing so, but it has not been duly noticed by Turkey."
The article features quotations from head of foreign relations department at the Azerbaijani President`s Administration, Novruz Mammadov, who says: "We have made greater efforts than you (Turkey). Our parliament adopted a relevant decision. Our parliamentarians, the chairman of the parliament condemned the French Senate`s move saying it would undermine the country`s relations with Azerbaijan. We invited a delegation of the French Senate to Azerbaijan, and voiced our protest during meetings with them. We are trying hard in this respect. This just should be noticed."
The author also cites head of foreign and inter-parliamentary relations committee at the Azerbaijani Parliament, Samad Seyidov: "Being representatives of the Azerbaijani people we unanimously adopted a decision, telling the world that the French Senate`s law must never be adopted. And the Turkish Parliament satisfied with chairman Cemil Cicek`s letter of protest to his French counterpart. Unlike the parliament of Azerbaijan, the Turkish Grand National Assembly has not adopted any decision on the issue."
The article also features remarks by head of Azerbaijani Democratic Reforms Party, Asim Mollazade, who says: "Azerbaijan played a great role in collecting signatures for a petition which was sent to the French Constitutional Council to prevent the adoption of the law."
Gurcanli also quotes Azerbaijani deputy foreign affairs minister, Khalaf Khalafov, noting French Ambassador in Baku was summoned to the Foreign Ministry two times.
"Azerbaijan considered the problem as its own. This is being continued both on the level of foreign policy, non-governmental and parliamentary level. Azerbaijan expressed its opposition to the French Senate`s law by giving a note and issuing different statements," Khalafov is quoted as saying.
The author also emphasizes that Turkey expects Azerbaijan to demand France`s exclusion from the OSCE Minsk group.
In the article, Mammadov says: "We also considered the exclusion of France from the Minsk group. But this is not possible in practice. The issue does not depend on Azerbaijan alone. This requires a consensus, but this consensus is impossible to be ensured."
Khalafov notes: "Linking the two issues to each other will not have a positive impact on the process, and can cause more problems. The issue is very complex. Azerbaijan`s most painful problem is to return its occupied lands, so we are trying to solve this issue through the Minsk Group. But this does not mean that Azerbaijan is not with Turkey. There is no other country which stands by Turkey like Azerbaijan."
The article also stresses that Azerbaijanis are happy that the Armenia-Turkey protocol on opening of the borders has not come into force.
Gurcanli quotes Khalafov as saying: "Turkey closed its borders with Armenia because of the fact of Armenia`s occupation of the Azerbaijani lands. So, have Azerbaijan`s occupied lands been liberated? This is illogical. And, naturally, the people of Turkey did not leave us alone, they immediately expressed their protest and the protocol was not approved by the Turkish Grand National Assembly."
The article`s author says Mollazade`s remarks are more harsh. The head of Democratic Reforms Party says: "The largest Armenian lobby is not in France or the United States. The largest Armenian lobby is in Turkey. What does "We all are Armenians" slogan mean?"
Seyidov shares Mollozade`s views: "Turks were killed in Germany. The Germans staged protest rallies and voiced slogans, but they did not say "We all are Turks".
Gurcanli completes her article by expressing her impressions of her recent visit to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
"The story of protocols really offended Azerbaijan but this has already passed. As far as the French law is concerned, Azerbaijan made even greater efforts than Turkey, and in my opinion, will continue doing so. The major gold of Azerbaijan, which is developing its economy thanks to oil and gas exports, is to strengthen its diaspora worldwide."
"In Baku, they believe that we should work together, and that the Turkish and Azerbaijani diasporas are capable of overcoming everything," Gurcali concludes.

{nl}

AzerTAc


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