BAKU (News.az)—Azeri Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrived in Azerbaijan on Monday where he is scheduled to consult with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev about the outcome of his talks with Armenian, U.S., and Russian officials at a Washington DC summit for Nuclear Arms control early last week.
“We will have a detailed discussion with Aliyev about the talks we have had here. We will consult on the steps we will take from this point on,” he told reporters before leaving for Baku. He lamented the absence of Azerbaijan at the Washington summit as a serious “deficiency.”
The Turkish minister said his country was conducting “close consultations with Azerbaijan” over Ankara’s rapprochement with Armenia. “We are positive on the process and we have full confidence that in the end it would lead us to a point,” he said.
Davutoglu is expected to travel to Iran after his talks with Aliyev, where he is to discuss Nuclear security with officials there.
According to the Anatolia News Agency, Davutoglu expressed “political resolve” with regard to the protocols with Armenia, but emphasized that his government still linked the Karabakh conflict with US-brokered agreements between Armenia and Turkey. He also ruled out that the Turkey-Armenia accords would be ratified by the Turkish National Assembly before April 24.
“We discussed this in Washington. What’s most important is to assess the atmosphere and take steps in this direction. We will continue our work in this direction. We hope a good basis will be created for comprehensive normalization,” he said. “The increased activity in the region increases our hopes. Turkey will spare no effort to make progress on both issues.”
