Turkey has been observing a "stirring" along with intensified efforts within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group of countries mediating the talks between Yerevan and Baku for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
On Monday, Bernard Fassier of France, one of the three co-chairpersons of the OSCE Minsk Group, held several meetings in Ankara, including one with Ambassador Ertuğrul Apakan, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This was Fassier’s first visit to the Turkish capital in his capacity as a co-chairperson of the OSCE Minsk Group — a post he assumed in 2004. The other two co-chairpersons are Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov of the Russian Federation and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza of the United States.
"In the Caucasus, there are two ongoing processes: the Minsk process and Armenia and Turkey’s negotiations for normalization of their bilateral relationship. There is a stirring within the Minsk process, and all three co-chairpersons from France, Russia and the United States have been exerting intense efforts in reaching a resolution regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. These efforts are definitely noteworthy, and we strongly support these efforts,‘ a senior Turkish diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday.
The Turkish diplomat’s remarks, as well as Fassier’s talks in Ankara following his meetings in Baku and Yerevan, came days after the ongoing Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process appeared to encounter problems last week; Armenian leaders criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during a visit to Baku, for making the normalization of ties with Armenia conditional on a settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh, and urged him not to interfere in the settlement process.
’The Caucasus should not be considered solely from the aspect of being a rich resource of energy. We are talking about a geography between Europe and Asia — the two continents which are constantly expanding — and a geography next to the Black Sea. Issues are multilateral issues in this geography, thus stability of this region matters globally,‘ the same diplomat said, while noting that it would be optimistic to expect full regional stability and peace in the Caucasus before the next three to five years.
’Regarding the recognition of the alleged Armenian genocide; these allegations will continue keeping us busy for a while, and Turkey’s approach in the Caucasus is the best possible approach for dealing with this issue," the diplomat said.
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