TURKISH FM SAYS OSCE DECISION CAN SOLVE KARABAKH DISPUTE
Dec 6 2008
Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan participated in the 16th
Ministerial Council Meeting of OSCE in the Finnish capital of Helsinki.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan participated in the 16th
Ministerial Council Meeting of the Organization for the Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the Finnish capital of Helsinki.
Earlier, Babacan visited the Azerbaijani capital of Baku and the
Belgian capital of Brussels.
Babacan expressed hope that Afghanistan, Pakistan and India would
establish a sincere atmosphere of cooperation and be successful
against that common enemy (terrorism).
The Turkish foreign minister said that the main issue discussed at
the council meeting was the general security policies in Europe after
the recent crisis in the Caucasus, and participants mainly debated
new proposals of the Russian Federation.
Babacan said that he had a meeting with his Armenian and Azerbaijani
counterparts on the sidelines of the OSCE summit, in which they made
a decision to work on a lasting peace agreement between Azerbaijan
and Armenia.
"I see this decision as an important one made to solve the Upper
Karabakh dispute," he told reporters.
Babacan said representatives of five countries including Turkey,
Georgia, Azerbaijan Russia and Armenia that were expected to set up
the Caucasus Stability & Cooperation Platform, also met in Helsinki
and exchanged views on the goals, principles, and mechanisms of
the platform.
Babacan also said that he debated general developments in the Caucasus
and Upper Karabakh dispute during his visit to Baku and Caucasian
issues, Russia-NATO relationship, Georgia-Ukraine committees, and the
situation in Afghanistan and Kosovo in the NATO meeting in Brussels.
Talking about the trilateral summit taking place among Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Turkey in Istanbul, Babacan said that it was an important
summit to establish solidarity and dialogue between Afghanistan
and Pakistan.
Babacan said that Uzbek general Rashid Dostum would be with his family
in Turkey and how long he would stay in Turkey was his own decision.
Also talking about elections to be held in Afghanistan in 2009,
Babacan said that problems could more easily be solved in that country
if people participated more in political system.
Babacan reaffirmed Turkey’s commitment to do everything in its power
to help restore peace and order in Afghanistan.