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Russia Denies Punishing Turkey Over Georgia

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  • Russia Denies Punishing Turkey Over Georgia

    RUSSIA DENIES PUNISHING TURKEY OVER GEORGIA

    USA Today
    Sept 2 2008

    ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Russia's foreign minister insisted Tuesday
    that strict new import measures were not aimed at punishing NATO-member
    Turkey for allowing U.S. warships to steam through its waters to
    deliver aid to Georgia.

    Sergey Lavrov said Turkey was not being "singled out" for stringent
    checks at border checkpoints. Turkish officials say hundreds of trucks
    taking exports to Russia have been held up since Russian authorities
    began closely scrutinizing consignments about a month ago.

    "This is not an action directed against Turkey. Turkey is not being
    singled out," said Lavrov at a joint news conference here with his
    Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan. "There can be no politics involved
    in trade."

    Two U.S. ships laden with humanitarian aid for Georgia last month
    passed through the Turkish straits, connecting the Mediterranean to
    the Black Sea.

    One of them, the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul, sailed back
    through the straits toward the Mediterranean late Monday, the Anatolia
    news agency reported.

    FIND MORE STORIES IN: Russia | Georgia | Mediterranean | Black
    Sea | South Ossetia | Azerbaijan | Anatolia | Armenia | Caucasus |
    Lavrov | USS McFaul Russia suggested Monday that U.S. ships that
    took humanitarian aid to Georgia's Black Sea coast could also have
    delivered weapons. Turkey, a NATO member and close US ally, has helped
    train and equip Georgia's military, which lost a brief war with Russia
    last month over the separatist region of South Ossetia.

    The talks between Lavrov and Babacan came after Turkey suggested
    it would retaliate with its own stricter trade rules but drew back
    from the threat Monday, saying it wanted to resolve the dispute
    through talks. Russia is Turkey's top trading partner and supplier
    of two-thirds of its natural gas.

    Lavrov said the stricter border controls were imposed because
    unspecified countries breached customs regulations. He said the two
    countries were trying to solve the dispute.

    Lavrov also Tuesday backed plans for a group of regional nations to
    try to overcome the Georgia crisis and stabilize the Caucasus region.

    The Turkish-proposed group would include Turkey and four nearby
    Caucasus nations: Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

    "The countries of the region should solve their own problems. Other
    countries should be supportive, but not impose their own
    prescriptions," Lavrov said.

    Georgia said it would only join the group after Russian forces
    completely pulled out of the country after last month's war.

    "Turkey will continue its efforts in solving problems through peaceful
    means and dialogue, under any condition," Babacan said.
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