Vestnik Kavkaza continues with its round-up of the key events of the year for the Caucasus with an interview with Turkish TV journalist and political observer, Ismail Togrul.
“I would pick out the visit of the Russian president to the Caucasus. Visits by Russian heads of state always leave significant consequences in their wake. If the visit is to Armenia, it immediately has repercussions in Azerbaijan, and vice versa. The strengthening, development and improvement in mutual relations between Russia and Turkey was very important in terms of high-level bilateral ties and developing cooperation, such as the agreement on building Turkey’s first nuclear power station. Other questions, particularly Nagorno-Karabakh, are still unresolved. This conflict severly hampers regional integration and relations between the three Transcaucasian republics. The problems of the status of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the Caspian Sea are still unresolved, although certain states have reached understandings on these, the expert said. Ismail Torgul wants to see a strong Russia in 2011, as peace and stability in Russia will have a stimulating effect on neighbouring states and throughout the Black Sea region and the Middle East. As a Turkish expert, he would like to see improvements in strategic relations between Russia and Turkey, not forgetting the destabilising problem of Iran’s nuclear programme, which he hopes will be resolved peacefully.
