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Turkey engaged further with Caucasus, Central Asia in 2012
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-302482-turkey-engaged-further-with-caucasus-central-asia-in-2012.html
28 December 2012 / AYDIN ALBAYRAK, ANKARA,
In the Caucasus and Central Asia, 2012 has been a year of increased cooperation.
The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, also known as the
Iron Silk Road, is expected to be completed in 2013. The railway,
which is planned to have an initial yearly carrying capacity of 1.5
million passengers and 3 million tons of cargo, will pave the way for
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia to achieve better economic integration.
But the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad is not the only project which
brings the three countries together. Turkish and Azerbaijani top
officials got together in September at the Turkey-Azerbaijan High
Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Azerbaijan, and the
Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), which is to be built between
Turkey and Azerbaijan, was high on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an's agenda during his two-day visit.
As the pipeline will reach Turkey via Georgia, this country is also a
partner in the project, which aims to transport Azerbaijani gas to
Europe via Turkey. TANAP, planned to have an initial capacity of 16
billion cubic meters a year, is expected to cost $7 billion. The
construction is set to start in 2014, and is estimated to be completed
by 2018.
2012 has been a year of comparative calm for countries in the Caucasus
and Central Asia, considering the huge transformation that some Arab
countries have gone through in the last two years. This is the case
more so for Central Asian countries than for Azerbaijan and Armenia,
which had minor clashes on the border during the year. In a border
skirmish in June between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have been
engaged in conflict because of the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh by
Armenia in the early '90s, left eight soldiers -- five Azerbaijani and
three Armenian -- dead.
The tension between the two countries seems to be frozen at the
moment, but is not settled. Eldar SabiroÄ?lu, spokesman for the Defense
Ministry of Azerbaijan, stated at the end of October that the
Azerbaijani army has the capability and is strong enough to hit
strategic targets in Armenia within minutes. The cease-fire may be
said to be somewhat fragile, though no major skirmish has taken place
since June on the border. The cease-fire between the two countries was
violated 1,178 times over the first 10 months of 2012, causing
casualties on both sides.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Armenia when the border
clashes started, and she underlined the US would exert further efforts
for progress to be achieved on the territorial disputes in the region.
But the fact that she also noted the tension could escalate into a
broader conflict with terrible consequences clearly demonstrates the
threat the region is facing.
The European Union aims to keep relations with the countries in the
Caucasus in good shape and is trying to be an influential partner. As
Clinton did in June, the ministers of foreign affairs from three EU
countries -- Sweden, Bulgaria and Poland -- visited Azerbaijan,
Armenia and Georgia in mid-December, and called on Armenia and
Azerbaijan not to engage in moves that may further disrupt peace.
A change of power came following the parliamentary elections held in
Georgia at the beginning of October, and the Georgian Dream opposition
coalition, led by billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, who promised
to ease tensions with Moscow, came to power. However, Russia's stance
on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Georgia lost in its war against
Russia in 2008, remains unchanged. Putin recently announced that
Russia would keep supporting Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two republics
which unilaterally declared independence from Georgia following the
war. Instability in Georgia would worry the West because it is a
conduit for Caspian Sea energy supplies to Europe and has a strategic
location on the Black Sea between Russia and Iran, Turkey and Central
Asia.
Though highly engaged in the Syrian crisis all through the year,
Turkey has also managed to keep up ties with the Turkic Republics of
Central Asia. The leaders and foreign ministers of four
Turkic-speaking countries -- Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan -- met at the end of August in the Kyrgyz capital of
Bishkek to discuss multilateral cooperation mechanisms and expand
economic cooperation through transportation and energy projects, which
are considered important to boost relations within the Turkic world to
a strategic level. The Bishkek summit of the Cooperation Council of
Turkic Speaking States (CCTS), established in 2009, was the second
meeting to bring together senior officials of member countries.
Another major event for the Caucasus and Central Asia was the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit which brought together, in
October in Baku, top level officials from Turkey, Iran, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and
Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). With
a population of 400 million, and covering an area of 8 million square
kilometers, ECO countries have a strategic position between East and
West. At the council of ministers meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu appealed to member states to grant observer status to
the KKTC in the ECO.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-302482-turkey-engaged-further-with-caucasus-central-asia-in-2012.html
28 December 2012 / AYDIN ALBAYRAK, ANKARA,
In the Caucasus and Central Asia, 2012 has been a year of increased cooperation.
The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, also known as the
Iron Silk Road, is expected to be completed in 2013. The railway,
which is planned to have an initial yearly carrying capacity of 1.5
million passengers and 3 million tons of cargo, will pave the way for
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia to achieve better economic integration.
But the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad is not the only project which
brings the three countries together. Turkish and Azerbaijani top
officials got together in September at the Turkey-Azerbaijan High
Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Azerbaijan, and the
Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), which is to be built between
Turkey and Azerbaijan, was high on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an's agenda during his two-day visit.
As the pipeline will reach Turkey via Georgia, this country is also a
partner in the project, which aims to transport Azerbaijani gas to
Europe via Turkey. TANAP, planned to have an initial capacity of 16
billion cubic meters a year, is expected to cost $7 billion. The
construction is set to start in 2014, and is estimated to be completed
by 2018.
2012 has been a year of comparative calm for countries in the Caucasus
and Central Asia, considering the huge transformation that some Arab
countries have gone through in the last two years. This is the case
more so for Central Asian countries than for Azerbaijan and Armenia,
which had minor clashes on the border during the year. In a border
skirmish in June between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have been
engaged in conflict because of the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh by
Armenia in the early '90s, left eight soldiers -- five Azerbaijani and
three Armenian -- dead.
The tension between the two countries seems to be frozen at the
moment, but is not settled. Eldar SabiroÄ?lu, spokesman for the Defense
Ministry of Azerbaijan, stated at the end of October that the
Azerbaijani army has the capability and is strong enough to hit
strategic targets in Armenia within minutes. The cease-fire may be
said to be somewhat fragile, though no major skirmish has taken place
since June on the border. The cease-fire between the two countries was
violated 1,178 times over the first 10 months of 2012, causing
casualties on both sides.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Armenia when the border
clashes started, and she underlined the US would exert further efforts
for progress to be achieved on the territorial disputes in the region.
But the fact that she also noted the tension could escalate into a
broader conflict with terrible consequences clearly demonstrates the
threat the region is facing.
The European Union aims to keep relations with the countries in the
Caucasus in good shape and is trying to be an influential partner. As
Clinton did in June, the ministers of foreign affairs from three EU
countries -- Sweden, Bulgaria and Poland -- visited Azerbaijan,
Armenia and Georgia in mid-December, and called on Armenia and
Azerbaijan not to engage in moves that may further disrupt peace.
A change of power came following the parliamentary elections held in
Georgia at the beginning of October, and the Georgian Dream opposition
coalition, led by billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili, who promised
to ease tensions with Moscow, came to power. However, Russia's stance
on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Georgia lost in its war against
Russia in 2008, remains unchanged. Putin recently announced that
Russia would keep supporting Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two republics
which unilaterally declared independence from Georgia following the
war. Instability in Georgia would worry the West because it is a
conduit for Caspian Sea energy supplies to Europe and has a strategic
location on the Black Sea between Russia and Iran, Turkey and Central
Asia.
Though highly engaged in the Syrian crisis all through the year,
Turkey has also managed to keep up ties with the Turkic Republics of
Central Asia. The leaders and foreign ministers of four
Turkic-speaking countries -- Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan -- met at the end of August in the Kyrgyz capital of
Bishkek to discuss multilateral cooperation mechanisms and expand
economic cooperation through transportation and energy projects, which
are considered important to boost relations within the Turkic world to
a strategic level. The Bishkek summit of the Cooperation Council of
Turkic Speaking States (CCTS), established in 2009, was the second
meeting to bring together senior officials of member countries.
Another major event for the Caucasus and Central Asia was the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit which brought together, in
October in Baku, top level officials from Turkey, Iran, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and
Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC). With
a population of 400 million, and covering an area of 8 million square
kilometers, ECO countries have a strategic position between East and
West. At the council of ministers meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu appealed to member states to grant observer status to
the KKTC in the ECO.