South Caucasus-Europe linkage mostly artificialNovember 10, 2008 - 13:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Each Caucasus state should feel secure, according to a Russian expert. "The South Caucasus-Europe linkage is mostly artificial, since the European Union doesn't plan to accept Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and its activities in the region seem to be ambiguous experiments," Andrey Areshev, expert at Strategic Initiative Foundation, wrote in a piece of opinion titled "Stability in the Caucasus after five-day war: the role of Russia, Iran and Turkey." "Turkey's Caucasus stability and cooperation initiative stands a good chance to be realized. However, it will not be sufficient without Iran. The Iranian-Russian interaction is a stabilizing factor which will help some European states pursue an independent from the U.S. policy toward Tehran," he continued. Georgia's accession to NATO and rehabilitation of the republic's military infrastructure will hamper implementation of peace initiatives in the Caucasus. Moreover, any initiative should be advanced taking into account the existence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. And the last but not least, there are attempts to attach an anti-Russian coloring to the Turkish initiative and this will hardly gladden Russia," Areshev concluded. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Armenia Security Council chief traveling to Qatar Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan will travel on a working visit to Qatar. Armenian Foreign Minister regrets “tragic loss” of Iranian counterpart The Armenian Foreign Ministry has expressed shock over the death of the Iranian President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Armenian PM sends condolences to Iran Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent a message of condolence to the Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Armenia, Turkey discuss restoration of historic bridge The meeting took place on May 17 in Ashgabat on the sidelines of an international conference of ministers of culture. |