Moscow next stop in three-way talks
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 14, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - The leaders of Turkey, Russia and Azerbaijan may meet in Moscow to discuss the status of the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region, an Azerbaijani territory occupied by Armenia, reported the PanArmenian news agency.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is said to be participating in the April 16 summit, along with Russian and Azerbaijani presidents Dmitri Medvedev and Ilham Aliyev. Turkish diplomatic sources, however, said no such meeting was being planned.
The PanArmenian news agency reported that Aliyev would likely lodge complaints in Moscow, where he is going at the invitation of Medvedev, about the prospect of the Turkish-Armenian border being reopened without resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Russia is involved in the Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is working to end the Armenian-Azerbaijani stalemate on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, and holds the status of co-chair, along with France and the United States.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan during its conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Both Azerbaijani leaders and public opinion have expressed serious concerns over the possibility of the border between Turkey and Armenia being re-opened. Baku’s reaction to reports that Ankara and Yerevan are close to a deal is no secret. Aliyev refused to attend the Alliance of Civilizations summit in Istanbul earlier this month, a move that was seen as a protest against the pending border move.
Ankara, trapped between Yerevan and Baku, has begun closely cooperating with Moscow in order to create a Caucasus security and stability pact, reported the PanArmenian news agency.
Turkey has moved quickly in the wake of last summer’s Russian-Georgian war to devise a way to bring divided parties around the same table to discuss the future. The proposal to create a stability pact to address security concerns in the Caucasus is expected to help normalize Turkish-Armenian ties. Moscow has been defending the establishment of diplomatic ties between two countries since 1993. Today, Russian companies control 70 percent of Armenian industry. Russia began to operate the Armenian State Railways Authority last year.
In the meantime, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan’s visit to Yerevan to attend the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, or BSEC, summit could be in jeopardy due to another important meeting on Pakistan. Japan, a member of the U.N. Security Council, will host a donors meeting for Pakistan on Friday that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardali is set to attend. The World Bank will co-chair the Tokyo meeting, aimed at "helping Pakistan address its difficult challenges, such as economic reform and the fight against terrorism," Japan’s foreign ministry announced previously.
Diplomatic sources said it was not yet clear if Babacan would attend the BSEC meeting, on April 16 and 17, but that he is unlikely to attend the Tokyo summit, where state minister Mehmet Aydın is expected to represent Turkey.
The PanArmenian news agency reported that Aliyev would likely lodge complaints in Moscow, where he is going at the invitation of Medvedev, about the prospect of the Turkish-Armenian border being reopened without resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Russia is involved in the Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is working to end the Armenian-Azerbaijani stalemate on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, and holds the status of co-chair, along with France and the United States.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan during its conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Both Azerbaijani leaders and public opinion have expressed serious concerns over the possibility of the border between Turkey and Armenia being re-opened. Baku’s reaction to reports that Ankara and Yerevan are close to a deal is no secret. Aliyev refused to attend the Alliance of Civilizations summit in Istanbul earlier this month, a move that was seen as a protest against the pending border move.
Ankara, trapped between Yerevan and Baku, has begun closely cooperating with Moscow in order to create a Caucasus security and stability pact, reported the PanArmenian news agency.
Turkey has moved quickly in the wake of last summer’s Russian-Georgian war to devise a way to bring divided parties around the same table to discuss the future. The proposal to create a stability pact to address security concerns in the Caucasus is expected to help normalize Turkish-Armenian ties. Moscow has been defending the establishment of diplomatic ties between two countries since 1993. Today, Russian companies control 70 percent of Armenian industry. Russia began to operate the Armenian State Railways Authority last year.
In the meantime, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan’s visit to Yerevan to attend the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, or BSEC, summit could be in jeopardy due to another important meeting on Pakistan. Japan, a member of the U.N. Security Council, will host a donors meeting for Pakistan on Friday that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardali is set to attend. The World Bank will co-chair the Tokyo meeting, aimed at "helping Pakistan address its difficult challenges, such as economic reform and the fight against terrorism," Japan’s foreign ministry announced previously.
Diplomatic sources said it was not yet clear if Babacan would attend the BSEC meeting, on April 16 and 17, but that he is unlikely to attend the Tokyo summit, where state minister Mehmet Aydın is expected to represent Turkey.