Azerbaijan Threatens Turkey Over Armenia Agreement

Frustrated by Turkey's historic normalization of relations with Armenia earlier this month, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has threatened to stop selling Turkey natural gas at low prices and announced that Baku will look for routes around Turkey to ship gas to Europe, RFE/RL's Armenian Service ...

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

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YEREVAN -- Frustrated by Turkey's historic normalization of relations with Armenia earlier this month, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has threatened to stop selling Turkey natural gas at low prices and announced that Baku will look for routes around Turkey to ship gas to Europe, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported.

Days later, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters that "Azeri soil is as sacred for us as our own" and "liberating this soil from occupation" -- referring to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory -- "is one of our primary national issues."

"Even if the skies fall down, Turkey's position will not change," Davutoglu told reporters. "The fact that a country is occupying the territory of another country is unacceptable."

His statements came amid reports in Baku that Turkish flags had been removed from the graves of Turkish soldiers who fought for Azerbaijan in the early 20th century.

Copyright (c) RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Filed under geopolitics, , armenia, turkey, azerbaijan

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