Gul to visit Azerbaijan

In the wake of his landmark visit to Armenia over the weekend, President Abdullah Gul is set to visit neighboring Azerbaijan tomorrow. During his visit, Gul is expected to tell his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Alivey about his recent visit, and to exchange views on the Upper Karabakh issue in an effort to bring together the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides at the UN's General Assembly meeting in New York later this month. Diplomatic sources said that Azerbaijan had no opposition to Turkey's efforts to normalize relations with Armenia but that it has also urged Ankara not to open its border unless the Upper Karabakh issue is resolved. They also said that Armenia favors such a meeting. In New York, Gul will also seek support for Turkey's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2009-2010. A quartet meeting with the attendance of Gul, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian is also scheduled to be held during the General Assembly.