KARABAKH IS ‘MUSLIM, TURKIC’ LAND, SAYS TURKISH OFFICIAL
asbarez
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag
BAKU-In reaffirming Turkey’s pre-condition of a resolution to the
Karabakh conflict on the Armenia-Turkey normalization process, Turkey’s
deputy prime minister on Tuesday said “Nagorno-Karabakh is a Muslim,
Azerbaijani and Turkic land occupied by Armenia,” reported the Trend
News agency.
The Turkish official, Bekir Bozdag, told journalists during a visit
to Baku. “The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is our common problem.”
“Until Armenia pulls out of Nagorno-Karabakh, until the rights of
Azerbaijanis of that region are restored Turkish-Armenian relations
will not be normalized,” asserted Bozdag.
Despite signing the doomed protocols, which call for normalization
of relations between Turkey and Armenia without any preconditions,
Turkey has continuously maintained that the Karabakh conflict
resolution should be a precondition to Turkey’s final ratification
of the documents.
Armenia, as well as the US, which masterminded the dangerous
protocols, have both said that Turkey was acting against the actual
protocols. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the ball was
in Turkey’s court.
Howver, Bozdag’s statements on Tuesday even contradict the talking
points of the OSCE Minsk Group-led peace process, which calls for an
eventual referendum to determine the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic.