TURKEY READIES FOR DIALO GUE WITH ARMENIA OVER CAUCASUS PLAN

Turkish Daily News
Aug 21 2008
Turkey

With Turkey on tour promoting the creation of a Caucasus alliance
platform following the Georgia-Russia war, it faces the difficult
question of how to communicate this idea to Armenia. Before departing
for Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Foreign
Minister, Ali Babacan, will speak to his Russian counterpart Sergei
Lavrov this week, "after which the format of the contacts with Armenia"
will be determined.

Diplomatic sources told the Turkish Daily News that contact with
Yerevan could be held at the level of deputy undersecretary of the
Foreign Ministry. Unal Ceviköz was one of the Turkish diplomats who
held secret talks with Armenian counterparts in Switzerland.

"We may not have diplomatic ties but Turkey recognizes Armenia,"
said a Turkish diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said
the absence of Yerevan in the Turkey-sponsored Caucasus solidarity
mechanism would be felt because it was Armenia that was most affected
by the latest war in the region.

In a conciliatory message to Armenia, President, Abdullah Gul, said
over the weekend that Turkey is "no enemy" to any country in the
region, stressing that the Georgia-Russia conflict has shown the need
for "early measures to resolve frozen problems" in the Caucasus.

Ankara has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Yerevan, since
the former Soviet republic gained independence in 1991, because of an
Armenian campaign to secure international recognition of the Armenian
killings under the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

In 1993, Turkey also shut its border with Armenia in a show of
solidarity with its close ally Azerbaijan, then at war with Armenia,
dealing a heavy economic blow to the impoverished nation.

Diplomats from Turkey and Armenia met secretly in Switzerland in July
in a fresh effort to normalize ties, following three rounds of talks
in 2005 and 2006. No progress has been publicly made known.

Erdogan traveled to Moscow and Tbilisi last week to discuss the
Caucasus proposal.

On his visit to Baku, he said he and Azerbaijani President, Ilham
Aliyev, would discuss Ankara’s proposal to establish a regional
platform for stability and cooperation in the Caucasus that would
include Georgia, Russia and Armenia.

"We have vital interests in securing durable peace and stability in
the region," he told reporters.

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