TURKEY WANTS TO BE KEY PLAYER IN CAUCASUS

news.az
Feb 4 2010
Azerbaijan

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey is seeking to be a major player in the
Caucasus as the larger powers are preoccupied with other priorities,
according to analyst Yury Sigov.

"The United States does not have any special options to resolve
the Karabakh conflict today. Karabakh is not even a priority in
Washington’s foreign policy," Sigov, a political reviewer and bureau
chief of Deloviye Lyudi magazine in Washington, told 1news.az.

He said Turkey was likely to coordinate action with the United States
and Russia, which would be beneficial for Turkey and the USA.

"Theoretically, Russia could have filled the initiative vacuum on
Karabakh, but everything that has been proposed so far is not viable
in my opinion, except for regular meetings of the senior officials of
the three states. Therefore, the Americans will be able to tackle the
Karabakh issue only in two cases – either after a serious deterioration
of the situation in the region (for example, the launch of hostilities
over Nagorno-Karabakh) or a serious deterioration in ties with Iran and
inevitably more active intervention of the United States in relations
with Azerbaijan and Armenia."

Commenting on remarks by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
that the US, Russia and France have failed to settle the Karabakh
conflict over the past 20 years, he said:

"Mr Erdogan senses that the United States, EU and Russia are occupied
with other problems and is trying to make Turkey a key player in the
Caucasus. The conditions are in place for this – Turkey is the main
link for all energy routes to Europe not only from the Caucasus but
also from Iraq and Northern Kurdistan. The Turks want to use the very
sensitive energy lever with the EU, which is a most effective tactic.

Ankara may also take the initiative on regional conflicts if larger
influential countries do not have time for this.

"Yet it is not difficult to criticize and accuse others of inability to
settle problems. Let’s see what Turkey can offer on all these issues
and what it can do to change the political and economic status quo
in the Caucasus."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress