PM Erdoğan seeks Azerbaijani support for Caucasus alliance

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev yesterday to seek Baku’s support for a proposed cooperation platform for the Caucasus that Ankara says will also include Azerbaijan’s enemy Armenia

Erdoğan, speaking before his departure to Baku for a one-day visit, reiterated once again that there will be talks with Armenia on the proposed Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform. The proposal is still in the preparatory stage but diplomats say it is envisaged to start as a regional economic cooperation platform before tackling issues of conflict. Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are planned to be members of the initiative, which was proposed after a regional crisis erupted following a Georgian military offensive in its Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia earlier this month.

But with Armenia and Azerbaijan in a state of enmity due to Armenia’s continued occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, observers say a regional alliance including both countries as members may be difficult to implement.

With Armenian troops still in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani leadership is unlikely to warm to any sort of cooperation with Yerevan.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Aliyev, Erdoğan did not refer to Armenia and said instead Turkey was willing to further cooperation with Azerbaijan and Georgia for peace and stability in the Caucasus. He also said the Nagorno-Karabakh problem should be resolved on the basis of principles of international law and through peaceful ways.

Aliyev, for his part, thanked Turkey for its supportive stance.

In initial reaction to the Turkish plans to involve Armenia in the Caucasus talks, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said Yerevan welcomed the Turkish initiative. “Armenia was always in favor of dialogue and talks, particularly on the issues concerning cooperation and security in our region. The Turkish prime minister’s statement on the intention to start talks with Armenia on this agenda could be welcomed,” he was quoted as saying in a statement to Today’s Zaman yesterday.

It is not clear what shape the planned talks with Armenia will take. Turkey severed its ties with Armenia in the early 1990s in protest of the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to official Turkish policy, normalization of ties depends on Armenian withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh, the termination of the Armenian policy of supporting claims of an Armenian genocide at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire and an official endorsement by Armenia of the current borders between the two countries.

But signs have appeared recently that there could be a rapprochement between the two countries. Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan invited his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gül to a World Cup qualifying match between the national soccer teams of the two countries in September. Gül says he is still considering the invitation. Turkish diplomats have also confirmed recent reports that Turkish and Armenian diplomats had secret talks to discuss normalization of ties.

Erdoğan said details concerning talks with Armenia will be clearer after Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who accompanied him during the visit to Baku, has talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week. He did not say where or exactly when the meeting will take place.

Erdoğan has already visited Georgia and Russia to promote the proposed Caucasus platform and both countries have said they would welcome the idea. The proposal is not designed to end hostilities between Georgia and Russia, which invaded part of Georgian territory in response to Georgia’s South Ossetia offensive. It is a rather long-term initiative to provide a platform for regional countries to resolve crises through a conflict resolution mechanism that diplomats are still working on. In Baku, he said he won backing from Baku for the proposed alliance as well. “We are pleased that Azerbaijan is taking a positive approach to our proposal,” he said at the joint press conference with Aliyev.

US ‘surprised’ over Caucasus proposal

Despite assurances of support from the regional countries, Erdoğan’s proposal for a Caucasus cooperation platform appears to have received a lukewarm response from Washington. “I must say I was surprised,” Matt Bryza, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs, was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency at a meeting with journalists at the State Department.

The government’s plans to improve dialogue with Armenia as part of the Caucasus proposal are not popular at home either. In remarks published yesterday, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal warned the government against alienating Azerbaijan for better ties with Armenia.

“Armenia is neither giving up backing genocide claims nor withdrawing from Azerbaijani territory. But Turkey still wants to take some steps [for dialogue],” Baykal was quoted as saying by the Hürriyet daily. “Azerbaijan is a brother nation that we should never offend. Our commercial ties will further expand by cooperation in natural gas and oil. Azerbaijan should never be offended while [Turkey] seeks dialogue with Armenia,” he said.

21 August 2008, Thursday

Todays Zaman
21.08.2008