Baykal: "The AK Party's misguided policies have hurt Turkish-Azeri ties"

The misguided policies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) have harmed relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan, charged main opposition Republican People Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal yesterday. Speaking at his party's parliamentary group meeting, Baykal said he wanted to apologize to Azerbaijanis on behalf of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "The AK Party is here today, but it may not be here tomorrow," he said. "But Turkey is always on the side of Azeris." Touching on US President Barack Obama's statement on the so-called Armenian "genocide" allegations, he said, "Even if the president and prime minister haven't had a chance to explain the Armenian issue to Obama, they could have presented American professor Justin McCarthy's book to him," referring to an outspoken scholarly critic of the genocide claims.