BY MURAT YETKIN
RADIKAL- There was little official Azeri reaction to President Abdullah Gul's visit to Armenia last week to watch a soccer match, from either President Ilham Aliyev or any other Azeri official. Despite the reactions and uneasiness in the Azeri public, Baku acted like a real ally on this issue: when questioned, Azeri Ambassador to Turkey Zakir Hashimov would only say that they respected the president's decision. Actually Turkey acted carefully as well. The best example of this was seen with the Turkish delegation to Yerevan preceding Gul carrying equipment. Gul's official car, his escort vehicles and equipment for security and protocol purposes were carried via Georgia, through a 600-kilometer detour.
There, the aim was to give the same message to both Azerbaijan and Armenia: Ankara closed the Armenian border to protest Upper Karabagh's occupation by Armenians, and it won't use the border even for security purposes, unless the situation changes there. Yet Ankara heard comments from Azeri politicians and newspapers such as 'Farewell to Turkey' on the day Gul visited Armenia, because Turkey has very special relations with Azerbaijan. As Gul took a bold step in relations with Armenia and gave Yerevan a chance to make certain corrections in its foreign policy in line with international law, it should also make efforts not to damage its relations with Azerbaijan.
Besides meetings to discuss such issues as a proposed Caucasus stability and cooperation platform, Armenia, and relations with the US, Gul will also hold a press conference while visiting Baku. Gul is running the risk of Azeri reporters asking tough questions, and will work to dispel the Azeri public's doubts about Turkey's politics. This is the right move. Turkey should help to strengthen both Azerbaijan and Georgia not only out of friendship, but also for its own interests.
I previously wrote that when he got back from Yerevan, Gul said that actually he had decided to go to Armenia before it was officially announced. Indeed, Gul waited for Deputy Foreign Undersecretary Unal Cevikoz, whom he sent to Yerevan to officially tell his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian he would visit, to come back to Ankara on the evening of September 3. Gul said that he decided to pay the visit a week earlier, but announced it later. It might be interesting to review a series of incidents from that time.
I went to Yerevan to interview Sarkisian on August 25. A high-ranking official from the Cankaya Presidential Palace phoned me on August 26 to ask me if I could deliver a message from Gul. In the message, Gul delivered his greetings and good will and said he would be glad to meet Sarkisian in Astana. So the two presidents met in the Kazakh capital Astana, and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev even translated for them when they talked without even sitting down, after Sarkisian's op-ed invitation was published in the Wall Street Journal.
The fact that he gave his kind regards on the occasion of a Turkish journalist's interview was of course no indication of a decision. Turkey wasn't a country lacking contacts in Armenia, as it has many channels. But this greeting showed that the good will, which started when the invitation weren't rejected, was stronger now. Similarly, Sarkisian said during the interview that he considered even that a part of the improved atmosphere. So this situation showed that the mutual good will was understood. I delivered Sarkisian's greetings and message of good will to Gul in our meeting in Ankara the next day, on August 28. Gul said that he considered Sarkisian's interview an example of how contributions can be made to solving the problem and dispelling misunderstandings at every level. So it seems the decision had become ripe, and the next day the decision was made at the Cankaya Presidential Palace.