POLISH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS PREPARED REPORT ON SOUTH CAUCASUS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.07.2009 01:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Polish Institute of International Affairs
prepared a report on "South Caucasus: The Case for Joint Commitment
of Turkey and the EU" which underlined the strategic importance of
the region for the EU and Turkey, Today’s Zaman reports.

"The South Caucasus is significant for the EU for similar reasons,"
the report said.

In its report, the institute said the region played a crucial role
in EU energy security because it contributed to the diversification
not only of energy resources, but also of delivery routes.

The institute said both Turkey and the EU shared similar goals of
stability and security in the South Caucasus.

"These include, the peaceful settlement of the "(un-) frozen"
regional conflicts in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno Karabakh; the
establishment of good governance in those states whose state-building
processes are still ongoing so as to assure that the region will
not become a threat in the areas of international organized crime,
terrorism or drug trafficking," the report said.

Also, the report said the prospect for engagement in the
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process appeared slightly more promising,
and some sort of resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh dispute would
pave the way for normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.

In the report, the institute recommended the "EU countries to
differentiate between Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora."

The Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) is a foreign
policy think-tank based in Warsaw, Poland. It provides unbiased
research in international relations for policy makers, academics and
the Polish public.