A senior Russian official is scheduled to visit Ankara later this week for talks on Turkey's proposal for the establishment of a regional platform for discussion and the resolution of conflicts in the troubled Caucasus, which was suggested after a brief war between Russia and Georgia.
Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Titov will arrive in the Turkish capital on Friday for a one-day visit and will have talks with Ambassador Unal Cevikoz, the deputy undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry. Titov and Cevikoz, who is responsible for affairs relating to the Caucasus and Central Asia, will assess progress made so far concerning the proposed Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform. Ankara hopes the platform with bring Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia together around the same table.
Titov's visit to Ankara comes only a few days after Foreign Minister Ali Babacan's remarks on the positive approach of the Georgian side to the platform. Last week, Babacan told reporters that his Georgian counterpart, Ekaterine Tkeshelashvili, told him during a recent visit to Istanbul that Georgia would be part of the proposed Caucasus platform, despite earlier Georgian statements that the country would not sit at the same table with Russia unless it fully withdrew its troops from Georgia. Ankara's implementation of a proactive Caucasus policy is expected to gain new momentum after another three-way meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Babacan announced last week that the meeting is planned but that the agenda should be carefully decided before setting a date. Babacan had three-way talks with Armenia's Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian and Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in New York on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in September, where they discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov praised Ankara's proposal for establishing the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform, calling it a very important initiative. Serdyukov arrived in Ankara yesterday for an official visit at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Vecdi Gonul. "We appreciate this [initiative]. In the same way, we also agree with Turkey's views concerning Georgia's territorial integrity. However, the Georgian administration's efforts to improve its military potential have been creating concerns. Its efforts to approach NATO are also leading to concerns. We believe that these efforts may cause bigger consequences than the incidents in August," Serdyukov said at a joint press conference following talks with Gonul.
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