He left the palace, got into a taxi and… disappeared! |
State Minister Javid Çağlar almost ran away Prime Minister He came to Demirel: “Sir, we cannot find Elchibey”…
Azerbaijan President Abulfaz Elchibey On Wednesday, June 24, 1992, he left for Istanbul to attend the founding meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization. A new institution with great prospects was created at the initiative of Turkey and Prime Minister Demirel was particularly sensitive to the issues of preparation for the summit.
Exactly 24 years later, in June 2016, there are no news about this organization political “Hürriyet” newspaper of Turkey, despite not attracting as much interest in the world as before Azerbaijan delivered an article that caused a sensation regarding the participation of its president in that summit.
Turkey the leader of the popular movement Abulfaz Elchibeyin the president after his election, it was his debut on the international stage, so to speak, and it also coincided with the president’s birthday. But the article was about another issue that was considered a “state secret” until then…
President first kissed the ground
“Ataturk weather As soon as he got off the plane at the port, he bent over the land kissed. Him He told those who came to meet him, “Our motherland, our fatherland,” and said, “I am very happy to be in Turkey.”
Elchibey weather from the port went directly to Ciragan Palace. Azerbaijan He watched the Bosphorus of Istanbul and the splendor of the Anatolian Coast from the room set aside as a residence for the president. The next of the day in the morning, he would represent his country at the regional meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization. He retired at night.
Thus, on the morning of June 25, Chiragan Palace lived another historical day. This meeting was hosted by Prime Minister of Turkey Suleyman Demirel. President of Azerbaijan Abulfaz ElchibeyRussia, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, of Ukraine, Albanian heads of state Boris Yeltsin, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Eduard Shevardnadze, Konstantin Mitsotakis, Jelyu Jelev, Ion Iliescu, Mircea Sneghur, Leonid Kravchuk and Sali Berisha came to Istanbul to participate in the event. Coordination was carried out by the State Minister Sharif Ercan.
Shortly before the summit, the guests left the rooms and were directed to the meeting hall. But there was no one inside. This is the brother called “Two states, one nation”. Azerbaijan Its president was Abulfaz Elchibey.
“Mr. Bayafendi, we can’t find Elchibey”
Çiragan Palace was searched everywhere. Azerbaijani officials were also asked where the president was. But there was no one who knew. State Minister Ercan immediately reported the situation to another minister, Javid Çağlar. The ages almost flew by Prime Minister He came to Demirel and said: “Sir, we cannot find Elchibey.” He does not know where his surroundings are. The summit is about to begin. Does it happen without Elchibey? What do you order, sir?”
Prime Minister Demirel did not lose his usual coolness:
“Let’s not discuss the issue here. Leave it to Necdet (Necdet Menzir was then the head of security of Istanbul – ed.), let him fulfill his duty.”
Javid Çağlar spoke about the situation to Necdat Menzire, the security director who ensures security in Ciragan Palace. Menzir began to investigate without delay. The first clue was given by a hotel employee. It turned out that President Elchibey left his room in the early hours of the morning, got into one of the taxis in the garden and left the hotel without telling anyone.
Istanbul police was mobilized at once. In a short time, it was reported that he was in a taxi moving towards Saray, on the Anatolian side of Elchibey, on the coast of Salacak.
“Turkey I’m in love, I admire Istanbul”
Police their bosses were watching the President of Azerbaijan with confusion. Because Elchibey was watching the surroundings in an ordinary taxi. The police slowly approached the taxi. The taxi window was open. They introduced themselves to Elchibe and asked if he needed a service. Elchibey told the police:
“Turkey i’m in love I admire Istanbul. As for our motherland, I wanted to see Topkapı Palace, where our ancestors lived, even from a distance.”
The President of Azerbaijan was found, and the situation was reported to Istanbul security chief Necdet Menzir. Menzir conveyed this good news to State Minister Javid Çağlar, and Çağlar presented it to Prime Minister Demirel. Elchibey is one the police He returned to Chiragan Palace by car and took his place in the hall where the historical meeting was held. Excited waiting is over, the host Demirel, his fellow ministers Çağlar and Ercan took a deep breath.”
At the end of the article, it was said that “this incident has been kept as a state secret until today”.
Hurriyet’s article sparked discussions both in Turkey and Azerbaijan. Anatolian Turks emphasize the sincere and immeasurable love of the Azerbaijani leader for the brotherly country, and were influenced by this. In Azerbaijan, the narrated story was not received unequivocally. On the one hand, the “Elchibeys” and on the other hand, the “Aliyevs” saw here a hint of the behavior of the then leader of Azerbaijan against the official protocol. It was even possible to find other unpleasant ideas.
He was an assistant to the ex-president Oktay Gasimov commented on the matter as follows:
“It appears from the article that the author wanted to exaggerate Mr. Abulfaz’s love for Turkey. But maybe he did not want to, maybe he made a distortion for the sake of increasing the reader’s interest, as they say, he made an eye where he made an eyebrow. The journalist writes that Atatürk will get off the plane in Elchibey on June 24 weather kissed the ground at the harbor. Nothing like that happened. The president went to the city and settled in the residence reserved for him. At around 3-4 o’clock in the night, he died from his security Ilgar He took Gadirguliyev and one of the Turkish officers from the general guard and went with them to the Bosphorus Bridge, which is about 1.5 kilometers from the residence. The guards stood outside, Elchibey watched Istanbul from there and kissed the ground there at night. Only two guards witnessed this. Then they turned back. They also participated in the event in the morning. But the journalist writes that supposedly Eichibey is nobody news didn’t pay, went by taxi, the police he was raised, they found him and brought him back, and in the end, the president was almost late for the meeting. Sure, it’s a compelling plot, but in any case, it’s wrong. The main purpose of the trip to Turkey was to participate in the meeting, not to see Istanbul, which could have been done at another time. Before the event, Süleyman Demirel and other leaders of Turkey from Elchibey’s night walk news caught Abulfaz Bey himself did not want to say in advance that he had such an intention. If he said, they would certainly create conditions. But a large security team would be formed to accompany the president. As a result, anxiety would arise, and he would not be able to be alone, even for a short time. At that moment, Elchibe, who had spent his life fighting on the road leading to this bridge, did not need anything else. The late Elchibey himself told us this.”
To determine which of the statements is more accurate, we will rely not only on logic, but on facts. Note the photo above of the 11 heads of state with the Ciragan Palace in the background before the big meeting in Istanbul begins. Elchibey is among them. Therefore, the Azerbaijani present has returned to the Chiragan Palace in the hall where the historical meeting was held” only at the last moment “to take his place”. There is at least exaggeration in the words of the author of “Hurriyet”.
On the other hand, according to the members of the Azerbaijani delegation who participated in that event, the June 25 meeting was scheduled for the afternoon, not the morning. Therefore, the night walk of the President of Azerbaijan could not affect the timely opening of the event in any way.
When we got hold of the photo of the presidents, we thought that what we discovered while researching its history would be very interesting for our readers.
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