Davutoglu: "We see the Azeri flag as our own"

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday went to Baku, Azerbaijan, to attend a Foreign Ministers Council meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). On the sidelines of the gathering, Davutoglu also held talks with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and his Azeri counterpart Elmar Memmedyarov in a bid to dispel misconceptions and misinterpretations concerning Turkey's recently signed rapprochement protocols with Armenia. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Davutoglu said Turkey looks at Azeri and Turkish territories and the two countries' flags as being one and the same. Stressing that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is a national cause for Turkey, Davutoglu said Turkey is working hard to have the issue dealt with at international meetings and bilateral talks, and added, "Azerbaijan's territorial integrity is as important as that of Turkey's, and it has a strategic priority for us." Thanks to Turkey's active foreign policy in the Caucasus, issues in this region, particularly the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, now get more international attention, he said, adding that the importance of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, prosperity, stability and Turkish-Azeri relations cannot be overstressed. Davutoglu said that Turkey had stood by Azerbaijan since the day it recognized Azerbaijan's independence. "Nothing can change Turkey always standing by Azerbaijan or its position on Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and its territories under occupation," he said. Davutoglu said he believes the Turkish-Armenian normalization protocols will speed up finding a solution to Azeri-Armenian disputes as well. He said this normalization would be robust only if there is a comprehensive, region-wide normalization. "From now on, Turkey will bring up Karabakh and settling Azeri-Armenian disputes at every occasion, even if Azerbaijan does not," he also said. Davutolgu also characterized his talks with Aliyev and Memmedyarov as very sincere and fruitful. Davutoglu, along with his Azeri counterpart, also visited a monument to fallen Turkish and Azeri soldiers in Baku.