Baku and Ankara fight Islamophobia

By Vestnik Kavkaza
Baku and Ankara fight Islamophobia

The fifth meeting of the high-level Azerbaijan-Turkey Strategic Cooperation Council took place yesterday in Ankara after the terrorist attack in the Turkish capital. On Sunday evening 37 people were killed and more than 125 people were injured as the result of an explosion at a bus stop next to the public park Güvenpark amidst large crowds near the business district in Ankara. This explosion was the fifth terrorist attack in the past few months, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to postpone his visit to Jordan, but still found it necessary to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

"We strongly condemn this heinous terrorist act, and once again state that today we are close to the people of Turkey. In Azerbaijan we believe that the acts of terrorism committed against the people and the government of Turkey won't bring any result,'' Ilham Aliyev said.

He recalled that a quarter of a century ago Azerbaijan regained its state independence and that Turkey was the first country to recognize it: "It was a kind of recommendation to other countries. The intense process of recognition of Azerbaijan as an independent state began after that."

Last November Turkey hosted the G20 summit and invited Azerbaijan to this prestigious event. Ankara has always been a supporter of a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with international law. "Territorial integrity must be restored, the decisions and resolutions adopted by international organizations must be fulfilled. We are faced with double standards, the support of such a big country as Turkey is very important for us," Ilham Aliyev said, recalling the development of bilateral cooperation in the military-technical sphere and Azerbaijan purchases of military equipment and armaments from Turkey.

Energy projects also unite the two countries. In 2012 Turkey and Azerbaijan launched the TANAP project and today it plays a special role in the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor transnational project. "In two years we will celebrate the opening of the foundation of the TANAP project that we have laid together. We would like to increase the number of goods from Turkey via Azerbaijan in various directions, and practical steps are being taken to achieve this,'' the head of Azerbaijan said.

He underlined the role of both countries in strengthening intercultural dialogue. Next month the Civilizations Forum of the UN Global Alliance is to take place in Baku, and the initiator of this forum was Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Together we are fighting Islamophobia, which has turned into government policy in some countries. Unfortunately, many media organizations are conducting a targeted campaign against Islam, against Islamic culture, against our traditions and customs. There are attempts to taint and tarnish Islam, identifying it with terror. This refers to inter-civilization issues. Today we see the refugee crisis, and the main burden is on Turkey, which receives millions of refugees. As a country that has also suffered a humanitarian tragedy, we know how complicated the issue is,'' Ilham Aliyev said, recalling that in the early 1990's Azerbaijan collided face to face with a humanitarian tragedy, as a result of which its territories suffered occupation in the course of the Karabakh conflict.

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