"OPTIMISTIC FORECAST: STABILITY AND PEACE IN THE CAUCASUS WILL COME IN FORTHCOMING THREE- FIVE YEARS," SAYS TURKISH DIPLOMAT."

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
22.05.2009 19:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There is a stirring within the Minsk process, and
all three co-chairpersons from France, Russia and the United States
have been exerting intense efforts in reaching a resolution regarding
the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

"These efforts are definitely noteworthy, and we strongly support
these efforts," a senior Turkish diplomat, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said on Thursday, Today’s Zaman reports.

According to him, the ongoing Turkish-Armenian reconciliation
process appeared to encounter problems last week; Armenian leaders
criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdohan, during a visit to
Baku, for making the normalization of ties with Armenia conditional
on a settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh, and urged him not to interfere
in the settlement process.

"The Caucasus should not be considered solely from the aspect of being
a rich resource of energy. We are talking about a geography between
Europe and Asia – the two continents which are constantly expanding –
and a geography next to the Black Sea," said the diplomat adding that
"It would be optimistic to expect full regional stability and peace
in the Caucasus before the next three to five years".