Turkish ultranationalists: Turkish-Azerbaijani brotherhood has received a serious blow

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ultranationalist politicians and columnists have expressed concern that recent visits by US President Barack Obama and Armenian officials to Turkey may damage the historic ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan, after the president of Azerbaijan stated that he was disappointed by Turkey's moves to normalize its relations with Armenia.



The recent rift between Turkey and Azerbaijan became evident when Turkey invited Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian to the second forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) held in İstanbul earlier this week. Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev refused to attend the event and sent a low-level delegation instead. Ultranationalist circles in Turkey interpreted Azerbaijan's move as a harsh challenge, claiming that the Turkish government had made a historic mistake when it sided with Armenia and left its centuries-old ally, Azerbaijan, out in the cold.

"When we consider what we've experienced in the past few days, we'll see that the brotherhood between Turkey and Azerbaijan has received a serious blow. The refusal of Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev to attend the UNAOC meeting is the most concrete proof of it. Furthermore, [US President Barack] Obama passed the ball to Turkey when he advised us to solve our problems with Armenia ourselves [during his speech in Parliament on Monday]. Now, it's time to ask ourselves: What advantage did we gain from all this?" said Abdullah Özdoğan, a columnist from ultranationalist daily Yeniçağ.



Orhan Karataş, a columnist at another ultranationalist daily, Orta Doğu, accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) of cooperating with Armenia with the ultimate purpose of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.



"Will the recognition of Armenian claims be to the benefit of Turkey?" Karataş asked.



Some analysts, however, do not agree that the relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan is so fragile as to be damaged by a visit by an Armenian or US official.





Milliyet daily's Taha Akyol expressed a strong desire to see the border between Turkey and Armenia reopened -- provided that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is resolved.



"I favor the idea of reopening the hearts, doors and windows between Turkey and Armenia. But the main condition for this is that all sides should reach a solution that Azerbaijan can accept. Otherwise, the current deadlock in the region will continue and the security and the energy strategy in the Caucasus will receive a serious blow, which will cause great damage to the United States," Today's Zaman cited him as saying.