Turkish FM slams opposition leader for his negative stance on relations with Azerbaijan

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu slammed the opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu over the latter's negative stance on Ankara's relations with Azerbaijan.

Cavusoglu said even Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declares his readiness to recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan but Kilicdaroglu still wants to isolate the brotherly country.

“Kilicdaroglu, what do you want from Azerbaijan? What is your problem with our Azerbaijani brothers? Is it possible to expect something else from those who said 'Unfortunately, Turkey helped Azerbaijan' in the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from occupation? No, it is impossible," Cavusoglu said, Report informs.

He also recalled that the Turkish presidential candidate, Chairman of the opposition Republican People's Party Kemal Kilicdaroglu, had previously presented a transport project that bypassed Azerbaijan.

“The path of a Turk lies through the Organization of Turkic States. We created the Organization of Turkic States and united all Turkic states. The path of a Turk lies through Shusha, Jabrayil, where the blood of martyrs was shed, through the ancient Turkic land of Zangezur,” the minister noted, referring to Azerbaijan's inseparable role in regional projects.

On May 6, Kilicdaroglu spoke about a transport communication project spanning Asia and Europe, which he introduced as his "biggest project".

He presented in a video address a map of the East-West transport corridor, traditionally known as the "Silk Road" or the "Middle Corridor", spanning China and Europe via Central Asia and Türkiye. Kilicdaroglu's map did not feature Azerbaijan, a vital corridor link, replacing it with Iran, which sparked criticism in Türkiye and Azerbaijan.

Even Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev commented on the Turkish opposition leader's project, saying the passage of this corridor through the territory of Azerbaijan was agreed upon decades ago.

"However, some did not want that. Unfortunately, even today, some want to exclude Azerbaijan from this strategic project, but their dreams will remain unfulfilled," Aliyev said, hinting at Kilicdarglu's intention to exclude Azerbaijan from the project.

Türkiye will be heading to runoff presidential elections on May 28. According to the results of the vote count in the first round of the elections on May 14, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won 49.51 per cent of the votes, while Kilicdaroglu got 44.88 per cent, Sinan Ogan - 5.17 per cent, and Muharrem Ince - 0.43 per cent.

Since none of the candidates got more than 50 per cent of the votes, Türkiye will hold runoff presidential elections on May 28. Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu will compete for the post.