RUSSIAN MINISTER INDIRECTLY PLAYS DOWN AZERBAIJANI FEARS OVER ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT
news.AZ
Nov 6 2009
Azerbaijan
Grigoriy Karasin The Armenian-Turkish accords do not harm any third
party, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoriy Karasin has said,
implicitly referring to Azerbaijan’s concern that the accords will
hinder a solution to the Karabakh conflict.
"Both Armenia and Turkey are our friends, so we are interested in
establishing a neighbourly atmosphere between them," Karasin said in
a wide-ranging interview published today in the newspaper Republic
of Armenia.
He said that improvement in Armenian-Turkish relations would invigorate
economic ties which in turn would benefit society and the economy in
both countries.
"Settling relations between Yerevan and Ankara will objectively help
to reduce tension and promote peace, security and stability in the
Caucasus. Moreover, nothing in the Armenian-Turkish accords can be
interpreted as harmful to a third party," Karasin said, indirectly
referring to Azerbaijan’s concern that the accords will hinder a
solution to the Karabakh conflict.
"The Russian Federation is ready to support the normalization process
through further cooperation projects with Armenia and Turkey. This
primarily concerns electricity, transport and communications,"
Karasin continued.
He said that Russia’s energy giant RAO YeES has facilities in
Armenia and is supplying power to Turkey, while Russian Railways
are ready to establish rail links between Turkey and Armenia via the
Dogukapi-Akhuryan border crossing.
Asked about Russia’s position on the Karabakh peace process, Karasin
said, "We see our role as to assist the settlement process by helping
the sides find mutual acceptable solutions to key issues, but without
dictating any formulas on the sides from the outside."
Karasin said Azerbaijan and Armenia themselves bear responsibility
for settlement of the conflict.
"Russia has been an active mediator in the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since the beginning of the talks process.
Moscow is now carrying out these functions on a multilateral basis,
working with France and the United States as co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group – the main international forum in the search for a
political solution to the Karabakh conflict. At the same time, we
are also mediating through bilateral contacts with our partners in
Yerevan and Baku. It is worth nothing that during the meeting with
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Moscow on 12 October, (Russian
President) Dmitriy Medvedev described Russia’s participation in the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process as ‘a very important yardstick
for our relations overall’."
Karasin said that Russia is willing to support any solution acceptable
to both sides.
"Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev met seven times in 2008-2009 and four tripartite meetings were
held involving the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian presidents.
Despite the existing differences, the sides made significant progress
towards agreement on the basic principles. Moscow is ready to take
all possible steps to move this process forward."
Karasin was upbeat on Russian-Armenian relations overall. "Regular,
trusted political dialogue on a high level and elsewhere between
Russia and Armenia gives our contacts a good dynamic," he said. "All
practical issues that arise in Russian-Armenian ties are resolved
constructively. Our collaboration is becoming more balanced and
harmonious, which is a sign of its maturity. Cooperation is expanding
and improving not only in the traditional political and military
spheres, but in the economic, humanitarian and inter-regional areas.
"Our positions on most key problems in world politics concur or
are close, which creates a sound basis for further fruitful foreign
policy collaboration."
Karasin said that although trade between the two countries has fallen
this year in comparison to last, Russian investment in the Armenian
economy is continuing to rise.
"Overall, we are optimistic about the future of Russian-Armenian
relations. We think that through our joint efforts we will be able
to steadily improve their substance."