HURRIYET DAILY NEWS: TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN SEEM WILLING TO RESOLVE THEIR POLITICAL DIFFERENCES WITH ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2008 17:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Two regional allies, Turkey and Azerbaijan, seem
willing to resolve their political differences with neighboring
Armenia, as they prepare to review the policy of rapprochement with
Yerevan, writes Fulya Ozerkan, an observer for Hurriyet Daily News

"Ankara is readying to host re-elected Azerbaijani leader, Ilham
Aliyev, on Wednesday, when the two allies will discuss measures to
bring stability to the Caucasus, along with a rapprochement with
Armenia.

Turkey’s diplomatic move follows the latest agreement in Moscow between
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to intensify efforts for a
resolution of their dispute over Nagorno Karabakh.

The meeting in Ankara is expected to give rise to political
consultations in the region in search of a final settlement to the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan will soon
travel to Moscow, sources say.

Analysts yesterday praised Turkey’s "facilitator" role in the Caucasus,
on top of the world agenda last August during the Russia-Georgia war
and said that the upcoming months could see a diplomatic opening in
ties between Ankara and Yerevan," the article says.

That would not be a surprise, according Hasan Kanbolat, a Caucasus
expert at the Ankara-based Center for Eurasia Studies.

"Ankara wants the gradual pullout of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani
territory and recognition by Armenia of Turkish territorial
integrity. The current leadership in Yerevan is ready for a
compromise," said Kanbolat.

A possible normalization in Turkish-Armenian relations is believed to
have positive implications over the Nagorno Karabakh problem, already
negotiated under the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe’s Minsk Group

"The Nagorno Karabakh conflict is standing as an obstacle before the
Caucasus policy of Russia and the United States," said Sedat Laciner,
president of the International Strategic Research Organization. He
underlined the Russian-led initiative would not be enough for a final
solution to the problem.

Kanbolat said the latest agreement in Moscow was only a reflection
of Russia’s rising political influence in the Caucasus region and
agreed that the dispute could not be peacefully resolved.

The Russia-Georgia war has accelerated diplomatic traffic in the
Caucasus for a peaceful resolution to the problem. Turkey has come
up with a Caucasus plan in the wake of the war to bring conflicted
parties around a single table. But the Moscow declaration shows
Russia’s involvement as a broker in resolving frozen conflicts in
the former Soviet Union.

"Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot challenge Russia in the
Caucasus," said Laciner. "Turkey is playing a policy of balance
between the United States and Russia," he said, underlining that
Ankara cannot act as a mediator in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
since it has defended the Azerbaijani thesis since the very beginning.