Azerbaijani Ambassador: Azerbaijan Will Continue To Be Beside Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus

ANKARA - Azerbaijan would continue to be beside Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as much as it could, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Turkey Mehmed Nevruzoglu Aliyev said on Saturday.
Aliyev told a press conference that Azerbaijani parliamentarians could not join the voting on TRNC parliamentarians' representing their own government in the Council of European Parliamentary Assembly (COEPA) due to ''deficiency in organization and carelessness.''
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Turkey Aliyev said that Turkish news on non-participation of Azerbaijani parliamentarians in the voting held in COEPA did not reflect the facts.
Aliyev noted that Azerbaijani parliamentarians were not informed before the voting and not only Azerbaijani but also Georgian, Albanian and Bulgarian parliamentarians could not join the voting.
Stating that only 70 of 450 members of COEPA joined the voting, Aliyev said that the result would not have changed if Azerbaijani parliamentarians had joined the voting.
Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan had always supported TRNC and would continue to do so.
Developments in COEPA did not mean that Azerbaijan had withdrawn its support from TRNC, Aliyev stated.
Stating that he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul by phone last night and expressed his regret over the developments in COEPA, Aliyev quoted Gul as saying that ''he knew that it was not Azerbaijan's state policy.''
Aliyev added that Azerbaijan would continue to be beside TRNC as much as it could.
In COEPA general assembly meeting, a resolution on Cyprus was adopted. In its resolution, COEPA asked the United Nations (U.N.) to review whether or not sanctions imposed on TRNC were rightful.
During the voting, the part of the resolution asking TRNC parliamentarians to join COEPA meetings and to have the right to speak in these meetings caused discussions.
This demand of TRNC parliamentarians was rejected as the motion for a change submitted by the Greek and British parliamentarians was adopted.
This expression was replaced with an expression calling on COEPA ''to have closer relations with Turkish Cypriot representatives in the general assembly and commission meetings'' and saying that ''Turkish Cypriot representatives should take place in the Greek Cypriot delegation.''
Turkish parliamentarians were disappointed with exclusion of the expression saying that TRNC parliamentarians should join and have the right to speak in COEPA meetings.
(BRC) 01.05.2004