GUL: STABILIZED CAUCASUS COULD BE GATE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.10.2008 14:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Stability in the volatile Caucasus would create
conditions for economic cooperation and enhance ties between the East
and the West, Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul said.

"That is why Turkey is pursuing active diplomacy to resolve the
crisis in the region. Turkey proposed a Caucasus Cooperation and
Stability Platform following a brief war between Georgia and Russia
over the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia. The proposed
platform will include Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia,
with which Turkey has no formal ties," he said.

"If you have stability in the Caucasus, and added to that if you have
trust and confidence, then you have the right climate for economic
cooperation," Gul said.

He noted that the region is also of key importance in terms of energy
resources and safe transportation of energy from the East to the West.

"That transportation goes through Turkey. That is why we are working
to achieve an atmosphere of dialogue, so there is the right climate to
resolve the problems. Instability in the Caucasus would be a sort of
wall between the East and West; if you have stability in the region,
it could be a gate," he said in an interview with Newsweek magazine.