Karabakh: A deal maker or breaker?

Sunday, December 6, 2009
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Armenia’s withdrawal from Karabakh and the new US strategy for the war
in Afghanistan are topics that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an and
US President Barack Obama might discuss during their meeting Monday,
experts say. ErdoÄ?an’s visit comes just days after Obama said he would
boost US troops in Afghanistan and requested that his allies do the
same

Turkey’s determination not to send combat troops to Afghanistan and
its demand that Armenia pull out of a disputed Azerbaijani enclave
will likely dominate a key meeting between Turkish and U.S. leaders,
according to international-relations experts.

(See "Experts focus on Karabakh as top issue in Obama-ErdoÄ?an talks"
for what the experts have to say.)

Experts responded to four questions on the critical issues: the wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran’s nuclear impasse with the West and the
recent thaw in Turkish-Armenian relations. They shared their views
with the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review about what U.S.
President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
might discuss during their meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

The meeting comes a few days after Obama’s decision to bolster the
U.S. military presence in Afghanistan by 30,000 troops. As he departed
for the United States, ErdoÄ?an said Turkey would not send combat
troops to Afghanistan.

Experts from both Turkey and the U.S. have echoed the same thoughts
over Turkey’s decision on Afghanistan and said ErdoÄ?an would stick to
his government’s policy about staying on as peacekeeping forces in the
war-torn country.

Experts also said the Turkish prime minister would ask Obama to push
Armenia for a withdrawal from the disputed Azerbaijani enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

On Iran’s controversial nuclear drive, Semih Ä°diz, a columnist for
daily Milliyet, said ErdoÄ?an’s hand is weak on Iran, while Sabri
Sayarı, an international-relations professor from Sabancı University,
described the issue as the most sensitive one.

The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq will also likely be on the
table during the meeting, Sayarı said.

Ä°lter Turan, an international-relations expert from Bilgi University,
said ErdoÄ?an would seek the United States’ cooperation against the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.