Azerbaijan closes Turkish mosque in Baku: Report











The mosque was built beside the "Turks cemetery" erected in Baku in honour of 1130 Turkish soldiers died fighting withing "Caucasian Islam Army" against Armenian and Russian soldiers that occupied Azerbaijan in 1918.

Sunday, 26 April 2009 13:34
World Bulletin / News Desk

Azerbaijan, which is reacting to Turkey's rapprochement with Armenia, closed a Turkish mosque in Baku, Turkish newspaper Vatan reported.

Also, Azerbaijan decided to raise the price of natural gas it is selling to Turkey.

Azerbaijani police met religious officials after noon prayers at the Baku Martyrs Mosque, built by Turkish Religious Affairs Directorate. Then, they hang a note on the door of the mosque saying, "the mosque is closed for restoration."

Also, the head of the Azerbaijani oil company said, "the raised natural gas prices will be valid as of April 15." Therefore, Azerbaijan will ask Turkey to pay the retrospective difference.

The mosque was built on 28 June, 1995 beside the "Turks cemetery" (Martyrdom) erected in Baku in honour of 1130 Turkish soldiers died fighting withing "Caucasian Islam Army" against Armenian and Russian soldiers that occupied Azerbaijan in 1918.

"Road map"

Last week, Turkey and Armenia have agreed on a comprehensive framework for the normalization of their bilateral relations in a "mutually satisfactory manner".

The agreement between Turkey and Armenia depends on Karabakh even it's not mentioned in the road map.

Acoording to the report, Nagorno-Karabakh problem is not included to the agreement between two countries. Hovewer, it is said the road map, that contains of parallel steps to be taken, depends on Nagorno-Karabakh issue as a "de facto" point.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan after Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=40745