Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Armenia's Approaches To Turkey's Initiative

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Armenia's Approaches To Turkey's Initiative

    ARMENIA'S APPROACHES TO TURKEY'S INITIATIVE
    Lusine Vsilyan

    "Radiolur"
    02.02.2009 18:13

    Discussions on one of the latest regional initiatives - the Caucasus
    Platform - were held in Turkey recently. Representatives of Foreign
    Ministries of five countries of the region - Russia, Turkey, Armenia,
    Azerbaijan and Georgia - met in Istanbul. It seems, however, that the
    Istanbul meeting did not bring anything new. Official information was
    restricted to the report that the meeting was of working character,
    technical issues were discussed and no document was adopted as a result
    of the meeting. How do Armenian analysts comment on the discussions
    of the Caucasus Platform?

    At the peak of the Russian-Georgian conflict in August 2008 Turkey
    came forth with an initiative of establishing a new interstate union
    aimed at promoting stability in the region. The proposal referred
    to the five countries of the region - Russia, Armenia, Georgia,
    Azerbaijan and Turkey. The initiative was called Caucasus Stability
    and Cooperation Platform.

    Following the proposal all the countries spoke in favor of regional
    cooperation and actually supported the initiative. The Armenian
    Foreign Minister also declared the initiative was acceptable.

    After the recent meeting in Istanbul experts say Ankara's proposal
    will not go beyond discussions. One of the periodicals rushed to
    describe it as a "bridge that20does not lead anywhere."

    Political scientist Sergey Shakaryants considers that Turkey's
    initiative of establishing a stability and cooperation platform in
    the region is destined to fail, first of all because great strategic
    changes have taken place in the region. The recent high-level contacts
    between Russia and Europe showed that Russia is not going to refuse
    from its decisions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. "It means that
    five out of the six countries in the region are recognized, while
    the Turkish initiative recognizes only three of them, also Russia
    and Turkey," Shakaryants says.

    According to the political scientist, the second factor that makes
    the success of the Platform uncertain is the exclusion of Iran,
    which contradicts the reality. "Because of these two reasons Turkey's
    initiative is unreal and has no strategic prerequisites. Even if
    the Foreign Ministers of the five countries hold several meetings
    and sign some documents, it's hard to imagine that it will lead to
    accomplishment of any programs within the framework of the Caucasus
    Platform."

    To ground his initiative Turkish President Abdullah noted the Stability
    and Cooperation Platform would contribute to the resolution of frozen
    conflicts in the region, including the Karabakh issue. "Only the
    Nagorno Karabakh conflict remains unsettled in the region. However,
    Turkey's interference in its settlement is neither expected, not
    welcomed," the political scientist notes.

    "Turkey has never been considered an international mediator in the
    Karabakh conflict resolution. That is why the Caucasus Platform
    will not advance the settlement of the conflict. It was Russia that
    categorically spoke against Turkey's involvement. Turkey has long been
    isolated from the negotiation process. The Caucasus Platform will not
    provide new opportunities, since the issue has been solved on much
    higher level," Sergey Shakaryants stated. The political scientist adds
    that the format of the Caucasus Platform cannot promote rapprochement.

    According to Sergey Shakaryants, the Armenian-Turkish contacts can
    yield results only in case Turkey refuses from its preconditions,
    from its approach of unilaterally supporting Azerbaijan's unilateral
    approach. He considers, however, that Turkey is not going to refuse
    from the position.

    Political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan's assessment of the
    initiative is more optimistic. He first emphasizes that he does not
    comprehend the initiative as a real purpose. "The Caucasus Platform
    is a tool of cooperation, which did not exist in the past. It
    envisages a framework of cooperation, where Turkey, Russia and the
    three South Caucasian countries should try to work out mechanisms
    of cooperation. Whatever topic was put on the basis of the platform,
    it would be interesting because it would be discussed by the five coun
    tries of the region. From this point of view the initiative functions,
    since it is discussed.

    To what extent does Alexander Iskandaryan agree with the assessment
    that the initiative will not go beyond discussions? "Something has
    already happened: Turkey started to play, it got deper involved in the
    discussions on what is going to take place in the South Caucasus. One
    could consider this as simple discussions, but I do believe it's not
    very unserious."

    Even the meetings of technical nature are already a result only because
    they exist. This is a process, which we cannot assess as a success or
    failure with the results of the technical meetings. In this case, the
    simple meeting is already a result, but launching broader cooperation
    would be a greater achievement."
Working...
X