Will Azerbaijanis participate in Islamic prayer too?
Members of Turkey's Nationalist Movement party today announced that tomorrow their leader Devlet Bahceli and 5,000 Muslims will conduct an Islamic prayer at the ruins of Ani.
According to the Turkish "Hurriyet", the nationalists have also informed that there will be a large number of Azerbaijanis participating in the Islamic prayer.
Turkey's Minister of Tourism has considered Devlet Bahceli's initiative as anti-constitutional. However, the Turkish Nationalist Movement party doesn't view the initiative as anti-constitutional and refers to the point in the Constitution which doesn't prohibit a massive Islamic prayer.
"We don't need permission to hold an Islamic prayer. We will hold the prayer on Friday. It is merely a religious ceremony. We will only wave the Turkish flag and not our party's flag," said the members.
Davutoglu has promised to normalize
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has promised to normalize Armenian-Turkish relations during a speech at the University of Harvard. As reported by the Turkish "Zaman" daily, Davutoglu has underlined Ankara's position on having zero problems with neighboring countries.
"Armenia is the only exception, but one way or another, relations will be normalized sooner or later and they will be better than ever," announced the Turkish Foreign Minister.
However, Davutoglu linked the normalization of relations to the Karabakh conflict once again.
"Armenia must be ready for peace. It has occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands. A new Caucasian structure based on the respect for countries' territorial integrity and peaceful coexistence is necessary for stable normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations," said Davutoglu.
The Turkish Foreign Minister stated that despite disagreements among government officials, the Turkish government is not sparing any efforts to normalize relations with Armenia and will continue to do so.
In response to a question on the Armenian Genocide, Davutoglu said: "The relations should also be normalized between Turks and Armenians living abroad. Turkey is ready to share the pain of the Armenians and I am certain that there will come a day when it will be possible to pass through the Kars-Baku-Yerevan road by car," said Davutoglu.
