Stability in the volatile Caucasus would create conditions for economic cooperation and enhance ties between the East and the West, President Abdullah Gul has said. In an interview with Newsweek in the magazine's latest issue, Gul said this was why Turkey was pursuing active diplomacy to resolve the crisis in the region.
Turkey proposed a "Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform" following a brief war between Georgia and Russia over the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia. The proposed platform will include Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, with which Turkey has no formal ties.
"If you have stability in the Caucasus, and added to that if you have trust and confidence, then you have the right climate for economic cooperation," Gul told Newsweek. He noted that the region is also of key importance in terms of energy resources and the safe transportation of energy from the East to the West. "That transportation goes through Turkey. That is why we are very active in trying to achieve an atmosphere of dialogue, so there is the right climate to resolve the problems. If there is instability in the Caucasus, it would be sort of like a wall between the East and West; if you have stability in the region, it could be a gate," he said. Gul also expressed concern over the state of relations between Turkey and Iran, saying Ankara backed a package of incentives offered to Iran by world powers to halt its contentious nuclear program. "I have spoken with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, I explained this to him, and I hope, we hope, that the problems will be resolved through dialogue," he added.
Asked to comment on internal rifts within Turkey, Gul stressed that the current administration is not seeking to undermine the secular order of the country. "There is no question that our direction is toward Europe. If we wanted to establish a system that is not secular, we would not have been doing all this, because the two would be contradictory," he said. He also dismissed any divide between secular and religious camps in Turkey.
"I believe that this divide, as you call it, does not exist. It is rather an exaggerated expression of what is going on. It is a discussion, and there are various families. If you look at one family, for example, there are people in that family who practice their beliefs more and others less. Or, if there are women in the family, some of whom cover their heads, some of whom don't.
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