Vladimir Socor: “U.S. should lift damages on Turkey-Azerbaijan relations”
[
20 Nov 2009 16:31 ]
Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. “Non-solution of Nagorno Karabakh problem for 20 years is a result of indifference by the West”, said Vladimir Socor, Senior Research Fellow of Jamestown Foundation, at the international conference “Security challenges in the South Caucasus: realities and prospects of the regional development” in Baku, APA reports. The expert said the South Caucasian conflicts were inherited from USSR and the West pursued unsuccessful policy to solve them. “The conflicts between the communities turned into the conflicts between the countries”, said Socor. He thinks that the international law is not implemented in the South Caucasus. Speaking about the role of peacemaking forces in the solution to the conflicts, the expert said NATO didn’t play its role in the South Caucasus correctly. He reminded about the former Georgian president Edward Shevardnadze’s summons for humanist interference in Georgia like Balkans and said NATO and U.S. rejected this idea in 2002.
The American expert said OSCE was no able to solve the conflicts. He also mentioned the Turkey’s initiative to restore stability and security in the region. Speaking about the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations, Socor said U.S president Barack Obama made mistake promising to Armenian Diaspora to recognize “Armenian genocide” during his election campaign. “As the president, he can’t keep this promise because it will ruin the relations with Turkey. Obama looks at the calendar and sees April there and he is trying to satisfy his Armenian voters with the opening of borders between Turkey and Armenia to create positive dynamic”.
The expert says that if the borders were opened in parallel with the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Nagornmo Karabakh, these parallel processes would lead to some progress. He said the processes should be developed equal and synchronically. “The conflict solution is not possible in a short time. If the United States uses it cards correctly, there can be a progress. It has few cards. U.S. needs in Turkey more than Turkey needs in it. The United States should lift the damages on Turkey-Azerbaijan relations to restore previous relations”. The expert said this issue was expected to bring results during Erdogan’s visit to the United States.