TURKEY AND RUSSIA STRUGGLE FOR SOUTH CAUCASIAN REGION
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.04.2007 14:50 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Turkey and Russia lead an active struggle for the
South Caucasian region, and we should confess that currently Turkey
has a little outdistanced Russia," Director of RA NAS Institute for
Oriental Studies doctor Ruben Safrastian stated to a press conference
in Yerevan. He said, Georgia and Azerbaijan are moving towards West,
which means collapse of Russian diplomacy in the region. "However,
we must underline that a more global opposition is on the way between
Sunnis and Shias. With the help of the United States Sunnis are trying
to form a union of Sunni states. Most recently the first meeting
was held in Pakistan with participation of Turkey, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan. But soon after it representatives of Iran and
Saudi Arabia organized a meeting in order to stop the process. Iran
outweighs Turkey and Azerbaijan in regional policy, which proceeds
from Armenia’s interests," Safrastian stressed, adding that the
U.S. unnecessarily politicizes opposition between Shias and Sunnis.
He also noted formation of a one more alliance is on the way
between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia aimed against Armenia
and Russia. "However, Russia will always be present in the South
Caucasian region and the Middle East supporting Iran," doctor
Safrastian underscored.