Turkish Mass Media did not highlight the statement, which Azerbaijan's Defense Minister Safar Abiyev made during his meeting with Head of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Necet Ozel, Burcu Gultekin Punsmann, PhD, Senior Foreign. Policy Analyst, TEPAV, told ArmInfo. Specifically, Abiyev told Ozel that the work of the Minsk Group on settlement the conflict did not have any specific results and therefore, Azerbaijan has to liberate the "occupied territories" in other ways.
"First, the visit is receiving a wide press coverage and second, the main points which are being underlined are that this is his first ever official visit abroad and the main focus is, indeed, on the interruption of the gas supply from Azerbaijan because of a technical problem in Shah Deniz. This is a matter of concern for a Turkish audience," the analyst said.
As for Baku's trigger-happy policy, Burcu Gultekin Punsmann said Turkish officials should try to calm down war rhetoric emanating from Azerbaijan. "I am saddened to see that Russia is assuming better this role than Turkey. A new war between Armenia and Azerbaijan would be a major source of concern for Turkey. It is not easy at all to send Turkish troops abroad. Even in the case of Cyprus, it has been a matter of serious deliberation. Then we have the case of the Korean war. Some would like to see us today in Syria. That doesn't seem that likely from a Turkish perspective although - just to be a bit provocative - we form a much if not more one 'nation' with Syrians than with Azerbaijanis..cross border family relations are much stronger in the Syrian case," she said.
"More fundamentally the cost of a new war will be very high for Azerbaijan. The decision makers cannot envisage the eventuality of an interruption of the oil revenues," the analyst said.
