CAUCASUS PLATFORM HEADS OF STATE TO MEET IN HELSINKI

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.12.2008 18:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Months of effort by Ankara to bring Turkey, Armenia,
Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia together around the same table have
finally yielded a concrete result with a technical-level meeting
between these five countries to be held in Helsinki later this week,
Today’s Zaman reports.

Turkey’s proposal to establish a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform came following a brief war between Georgia and Russia in
August and aims to bring Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia together in a regional platform for discussion and the
resolution of conflicts in the troubled Caucasus.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, speaking to reporters late on
Sunday ahead of his departure for an official visit to Baku, said the
function of the Caucasus platform is one of the topics on the agenda
for his talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

Regarding the 16th Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which he will attend in Helsinki on
Thursday and Friday, Babacan said the OSCE’s Ministerial Council had
a particular importance nowadays due to the current state of affairs
in the region.

The first meeting of the Caucasus platform will be held on the
sidelines of the meeting in Helsinki and will consist of technical
negotiations concerning the platform’s goals, principles and
mechanisms, Babacan added.