Turk PM says process to form a Caucasain union to start next week
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan would meet his Russian counterpart Segei Lavrov next week to start the process, Erdogan told a press conference in Bodrum resort town in Western Turkey after returning from his recent visits to Russia and Georgia.
Erdogan said he conveyed to the all parties the efforts for a "Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform" which would include Russia and Georgia.
He said the platform attached importance to regional peace and security, and included economic cooperation and energy safety.
The Turkish prime minister said Georgia also welcomed such a platform, and added the process will continue with the participation of this country.
Erdogan said Turkey also wanted Azerbaijan to participate in this platform, adding he believed the participation of Armenia would also greatly contribute to regional peace.
"Of course the Minsk process is ongoing in the region. The United States, Russia and France are the primary executives of this process. But no conclusion has been reached in this process which has taken nearly 13 years. We want this process to be accelerated... The solution of the Nagorno-Karabak conflict will also end the problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia," Erdogan said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the outcome of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia, stands as the principal obstacle to the political stability, economic development and regional cooperation in the Southern Caucasus. The conflict is also responsible for the deplorable situation of the nearly one million refugees and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan.
The Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is a body co-headed by Russia, the United States and France and appointed to mediate in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
hurriyet