Azerbaijan, Baku, August 6 / Trend , R.Hafizoglu /
Former analyst of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization considers that rapprochement between Turkey and Russia can positively affect the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
"I think that Erdogan and Putin will discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict behind closed doors and rapprochement between Turkey and Russia can positively affect the solution of the conflict," former analyst of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, Mahir Kaynak, told Trend by telephone from Ankara on August 6.
The Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin is on a visit to Turkey today, Turkish CIHAN news agency reported.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7 districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Kaynak considers that non-settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an obstacle for Turkey's policy in Caucasus.
Turkey proposed to establish Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform to ensure stability and cooperation in the Caucasus on the backdrop of the Georgia-Russia conflict in Aug. 2008.
"Turkey's balanced policy towards Azerbaijan and Armenia in Caucasus is accepted by both sides with jealousness," Kaynak said. He considers that Turkey's success in its Caucasus policy is possible only after the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
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