RUSSIAN DEPUTY MINISTER TO VISIT ANKARA FOR CAUCASUS TALKS

Today’s Zaman
Nov 19 2008
Turkey

A senior Russian official is scheduled to visit Ankara later this
week for talks on Turkey’s proposal for the establishment of a
regional platform for discussion and the resolution of conflicts in
the troubled Caucasus, which was suggested after a brief war between
Russia and Georgia.

Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Titov will arrive
in the Turkish capital on Friday for a one-day visit and will have
talks with Ambassador Unal Ceviköz, the deputy undersecretary of the
Foreign Ministry. Titov and Ceviköz, who is responsible for affairs
relating to the Caucasus and Central Asia, will assess progress made
so far concerning the proposed Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform. Ankara hopes the platform with bring Turkey, Armenia,
Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia together around the same table.

Titov’s visit to Ankara comes only a few days after Foreign Minister
Ali Babacan’s remarks on the positive approach of the Georgian side
to the platform. Last week, Babacan told reporters that his Georgian
counterpart, Ekaterine Tkeshelashvili, told him during a recent visit
to Ä°stanbul that Georgia would be part of the proposed Caucasus
platform, despite earlier Georgian statements that the country would
not sit at the same table with Russia unless it fully withdrew its
troops from Georgia.

Ankara’s implementation of a proactive Caucasus policy is expected
to gain new momentum after another three-way meeting of the foreign
ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Babacan announced
last week that the meeting is planned but that the agenda should be
carefully decided before setting a date. Babacan had three-way talks
with Armenia’s Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian and Azerbaijan’s
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in New York on the sidelines
of UN General Assembly in September, where they discussed the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov praised Ankara’s
proposal for establishing the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform, calling it a very important initiative. Serdyukov arrived
in Ankara yesterday for an official visit at the invitation of his
Turkish counterpart, Vecdi Gönul. "We appreciate this [initiative]. In
the same way, we also agree with Turkey’s views concerning Georgia’s
territorial integrity. However, the Georgian administration’s efforts
to improve its military potential have been creating concerns. Its
efforts to approach NATO are also leading to concerns. We believe
that these efforts may cause bigger consequences than the incidents
in August," Serdyukov said at a joint press conference following
talks with Gönul.

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