OPPOSITION SLAMS ERDOGAN’S CAUCASUS ALLIANCE PROPOSAL

Today’s Zaman
Aug 20 2008
Turkey

A leading member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) objected yesterday to the government’s initiative to establish
a regional stability and cooperation platform to resolve crises in
the Caucasus, calling an alliance in the Caucasus "a dream."

The reaction against the government initiative came a day before a
visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baku, where he is
to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and discuss recent
developments in neighboring Georgia as well as Turkey’s initiative
for a union in the Caucasus.

"This is against nature. It is contrary to reason to assume that
countries which have daggers drawn can gather under a pact. Moreover,
only Russia will be pleased with such an attempt because it can
increase its clout in the region in this way [the Caucasia platform],"
CHP Deputy Chairman Onur Oymen told the ANKA news agency.

In Ä°stanbul, delivering a speech at the Turkey-Africa Cooperation
Summit, Erdogan yesterday touched upon the initiative, saying that
meetings to include Armenia in the platform would also be held.

"By rapidly improving efforts within the five countries [Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and Turkey], we will bring stability
to the region," Erdogan said. Oymen, a former undersecretary of the
Foreign Ministry, also suggested that Turkey has "remained away" from
the developments in the Caucasus, while criticizing policies of the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) concerning the region.

"Both regional countries and Western countries have been asserting
for the last 15 years that these countries should not be under one
large country’s ascendancy, that they should gain their independence
in the literal sense and that they should stand on their own two
feet. When you propose a pact which is to include Russia, you lead to
the re-ascendancy of Russia in the region. This would be very wrong,"
Oymen told the agency.

Turkey is a close ally of Georgia, cooperating in the field of energy
and providing the former Soviet Union country with critical military
assistance and training. But it also has strategic ties with Russia,
and trade between the two countries has grown tremendously in past
years. Last Wednesday, Erdogan flew to Russia and Georgia in a surprise
move and called on Russian and Georgian leaders to heed his proposal
for a Caucasus pact.

He said the regional platform would aim at preserving peace and
common security and furthering cooperation in the areas of economy
and energy. It will also include crisis management mechanisms based
on the principles of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE). Such a platform, he said, would play a key role in
preventing similar clashes in the future. Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili backed the idea, saying it would be beneficial to create
a common security mechanism in the region. He also thanked Turkey
for its efforts for lasting peace in the region and asked Ankara to
continue these efforts.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin also welcomed the proposal, and Erdogan said after talks in
Moscow that the foreign ministries of the two countries would start
working on the idea.

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