No great expectations should be anticipated from the meetings Armenia-Azerbaijan-Turkey due in New-York
Unfortunately, the UN is not a place to resolve arguments and conflicts; it is just a place where state representatives meet to discuss what they cannot converse over in any other territory.
In the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly the regional states expect to resolve some problems related to the latest events in South Osssetia and Georgia. With the active Turkish diplomacy there can be set hopes on normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations. Moreover, the trilateral meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan due on September 25 will apparently be held under US patronage, and most likely the United States will make every effort to have no Russian representative at the meeting.
Ministers will discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - the main sticking point in the relations between the three countries. Quite possibly Ali Babacan and Elmar Mammadyarov will try to incline their Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandyan towards refusing the OSCE Minsk Group services on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation. However, Armenia will never agree on Turkey's mediation in the issue, as it would mean simply offering Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan. But Turkey's pressure on Azerbaijan is also an option. The reason lies in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which became insecure after the Georgian war. Actually the BTC proved that no long-term political project can be profitable if it is realized on the pretensions of politicians and their unquenchable ambition to isolate the neighbouring country, which in this particular case is Armenia.
Meanwhile, the foreign policy of Turkey has been changing. The United States is no longer Turkey's major ally, and it may so happen that Russia, the country on which Turkey's economy leans, may take the place of the US. "Increasingly, Ankara finds itself at the center of bewildering crosscurrents. It's a strategic ally of the United States and Israel - but it also tries to maintain friendly relations with Syria and Iran. It is a candidate for European Union membership - but has divisions with the Union over Northern Cyprus. Its borders with the Caucasus, and cultural ties with Turkic republics in Central Asia, make Turkey a key part of Europe's hopes for energy independence from Russia - but it is heavily dependent on Russian gas and trade. Small wonder Turkey is refusing to choose sides," Newsweek reports. According to Russian Ambassador to Ankara Vladimir Ivanovskiy Russian-Turkish economic relations are developing dynamically and they are inclined to further growth.
As we have been mentioning, Turkey is a pragmatic country and it will never act against its interests. The Georgian war showed how far the Iraqi war and Russian economy can make Turkey walk from its obligations towards the USA, in order to clear its own path.
Nevertheless, no great expectations should be anticipated from the meetings due in New-York. The widely advertised meetings of Armenian and Turkish Presidents can only serve as a guise that conceals the real state of affairs. After all the UN is not a place to resolve arguments and conflicts; it is just a place where state representatives meet to discuss what they cannot converse over in any other territory.
Its incapacity to resolve conflicts the UN has been demonstrating since the Balkan war, which ended in breakdown of Yugoslavia and declaration of Kosovo independence. Further, the UN was unable to settle the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, which resulted in changes not only in the Caucasus territory but also in the whole world. Let alone the UN resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict regulation, which were never executed. In our opinion, the current state of affairs has its roots in the fact that the Organization has turned into a one-way road. All it does is blaming others. Whereas when founding the UN, great American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pictured the Organization only as a "peacemaker", in the true sense of this word. However, as it seems, the UN is going to suffer the same fate as the League of Nations, which had to dissolve itself after years of negligence.
Karine Ter-Sahakian
Meanwhile, the foreign policy of Turkey has been changing. The United States is no longer Turkey's major ally, and it may so happen that Russia, the country on which Turkey's economy leans, may take the place of the US. "Increasingly, Ankara finds itself at the center of bewildering crosscurrents. It's a strategic ally of the United States and Israel - but it also tries to maintain friendly relations with Syria and Iran. It is a candidate for European Union membership - but has divisions with the Union over Northern Cyprus. Its borders with the Caucasus, and cultural ties with Turkic republics in Central Asia, make Turkey a key part of Europe's hopes for energy independence from Russia - but it is heavily dependent on Russian gas and trade. Small wonder Turkey is refusing to choose sides," Newsweek reports. According to Russian Ambassador to Ankara Vladimir Ivanovskiy Russian-Turkish economic relations are developing dynamically and they are inclined to further growth.
As we have been mentioning, Turkey is a pragmatic country and it will never act against its interests. The Georgian war showed how far the Iraqi war and Russian economy can make Turkey walk from its obligations towards the USA, in order to clear its own path.
Nevertheless, no great expectations should be anticipated from the meetings due in New-York. The widely advertised meetings of Armenian and Turkish Presidents can only serve as a guise that conceals the real state of affairs. After all the UN is not a place to resolve arguments and conflicts; it is just a place where state representatives meet to discuss what they cannot converse over in any other territory.
Its incapacity to resolve conflicts the UN has been demonstrating since the Balkan war, which ended in breakdown of Yugoslavia and declaration of Kosovo independence. Further, the UN was unable to settle the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, which resulted in changes not only in the Caucasus territory but also in the whole world. Let alone the UN resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict regulation, which were never executed. In our opinion, the current state of affairs has its roots in the fact that the Organization has turned into a one-way road. All it does is blaming others. Whereas when founding the UN, great American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pictured the Organization only as a "peacemaker", in the true sense of this word. However, as it seems, the UN is going to suffer the same fate as the League of Nations, which had to dissolve itself after years of negligence.
Karine Ter-Sahakian
