Azerbaijani envoy: Armenia foreign policy 'opportunist'

ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan's ambassador to Ankara said on Friday that Armenia and its lobby in the U.S. were instituting an opportunist foreign policy as they did not accede to opening their official historical archives to examination by historians.

Underlining the closeness between Turkey and Azerbaijan, Hazar Ibrahim said the two countries shared common foreign policies and would continue to support each other.

Arguing that Yerevan continually pushed for their own issues to pass through the U.S. congress whenever Turkey or Azerbaijan had a problem with the west, Ibrahim said: "This is not fair, this is not politics, it is opportunism."

Ibrahim said Armenia does not want to open its historical archives as this would reveal the truth of the events of 1915.

He stressed that while some countries -- including the U.S., France and Russia -- condoned Armenia's policies, they are pushing for the Yerevan to obey international law and withdraw from Azerbaijani territory.

Karabakh issue should have told Armenia that they have no other way then leaving the Azerbaijan lands and obey international law.

Ibrahim alleged that many groups in the region wanted to curtail Turkey's clout by sowing discord between Ankara and Baku.

"They fear that when Turkey and Azerbaijan are together, they can always have a say in the region.

"The fact that Turkey is right next to its brotherly state ensures its security because there are not many other states which Turkey can rely on," Ibrahim said.

He added that the two states are both working for peace and prosperity in the region.

Upper Karabakh is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan illegally occupied by Armenia through military aggression since 1991.

The Armenian occupation of the historical Azerbaijani lands led Turkey -- which sides with Baku in the conflict -- to close its frontier with Armenia.

*Writing by Dilara Hamit in Ankara