Azerbaijan’s Aliyev Grateful to Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev

During the fourth Turkic Council Summit held on June 4 in Bodrum, Turkey, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev had an official meeting. The official website of the President of Azerbaijan reports that during the meeting, President Aliyev expressed his gratitude to the President Nazarbayev for supporting Azerbaijan’s position on Armenia’s membership to the Customs Union during the May 29 session of the Eurasian Economic Council.

During their meeting the two presidents also discussed the resolution of the Karabakh conflict and other issues concerning their bilateral relations.

During the May 29 session, Nazarbayev read a letter written by the Azerbaijani President in which the latter noted that Armenia must join the Customs Union with its internationally recognized borders -- meaning without Nagorno Karabakh.

President Serzh Sargsyan responded to the Nazarbayev’s announcement only when he returned to Yerevan. He said that Nazarbayev’s announcement was unpleasant, but not harmful. According to the Armenian President, the Karabakh conflict will not be solved through the Customs Union and Armenia cannot join the Union with Karabakh since Armenia’s legislation does not consider Karabakh a part of Armenia.