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ANKARA: Opposition Slams Erdogan's Caucasus Alliance Proposal

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  • ANKARA: Opposition Slams Erdogan's Caucasus Alliance Proposal

    OPPOSITION SLAMS ERDOGAN'S CAUCASUS ALLIANCE PROPOSAL

    Today's Zaman
    Aug 20 2008
    Turkey

    A leading member of the main opposition Republican People's Party
    (CHP) objected yesterday to the government's initiative to establish
    a regional stability and cooperation platform to resolve crises in
    the Caucasus, calling an alliance in the Caucasus "a dream."

    The reaction against the government initiative came a day before a
    visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baku, where he is
    to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and discuss recent
    developments in neighboring Georgia as well as Turkey's initiative
    for a union in the Caucasus.

    "This is against nature. It is contrary to reason to assume that
    countries which have daggers drawn can gather under a pact. Moreover,
    only Russia will be pleased with such an attempt because it can
    increase its clout in the region in this way [the Caucasia platform],"
    CHP Deputy Chairman Onur Oymen told the ANKA news agency.

    In Ä°stanbul, delivering a speech at the Turkey-Africa Cooperation
    Summit, Erdogan yesterday touched upon the initiative, saying that
    meetings to include Armenia in the platform would also be held.

    "By rapidly improving efforts within the five countries [Armenia,
    Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and Turkey], we will bring stability
    to the region," Erdogan said. Oymen, a former undersecretary of the
    Foreign Ministry, also suggested that Turkey has "remained away" from
    the developments in the Caucasus, while criticizing policies of the
    ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) concerning the region.

    "Both regional countries and Western countries have been asserting
    for the last 15 years that these countries should not be under one
    large country's ascendancy, that they should gain their independence
    in the literal sense and that they should stand on their own two
    feet. When you propose a pact which is to include Russia, you lead to
    the re-ascendancy of Russia in the region. This would be very wrong,"
    Oymen told the agency.

    Turkey is a close ally of Georgia, cooperating in the field of energy
    and providing the former Soviet Union country with critical military
    assistance and training. But it also has strategic ties with Russia,
    and trade between the two countries has grown tremendously in past
    years. Last Wednesday, Erdogan flew to Russia and Georgia in a surprise
    move and called on Russian and Georgian leaders to heed his proposal
    for a Caucasus pact.

    He said the regional platform would aim at preserving peace and
    common security and furthering cooperation in the areas of economy
    and energy. It will also include crisis management mechanisms based
    on the principles of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
    in Europe (OSCE). Such a platform, he said, would play a key role in
    preventing similar clashes in the future. Georgian President Mikhail
    Saakashvili backed the idea, saying it would be beneficial to create
    a common security mechanism in the region. He also thanked Turkey
    for its efforts for lasting peace in the region and asked Ankara to
    continue these efforts.

    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
    Putin also welcomed the proposal, and Erdogan said after talks in
    Moscow that the foreign ministries of the two countries would start
    working on the idea.

    --Boundary_(ID_IRxb8sfxTe17IM5YIKiaYQ)--
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