Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 22 / Trend U. Sadikhova /
Turkey has great potential in the Southern Caucasus to achieve common economic development of the whole region, Oktay Tanrisever, Turkish expert on international relations, said.
"Turkey's economy significantly differs from the economies of other countries in the region. Turkey can succeed in common economic development of the region by increasing the turnover and developing joint economic projects," Tanrisever said during a round table "Global Challenges in the regional context" in the Center for Strategic Studies under the Azerbaijani President.
After creating strong economic relations between the countries of the region, Turkey would be able to use them to accelerate the settlement of political conflicts and disputes among countries of the region, Tanrisever, deputy dean of the department of international relations at the Turkish Middle East Technical University, said.
The discussions are held in the Center for Strategic Studies within the annual symposium "South Caucasus in changing world". Over 150 foreign and local experts attended the symposium.
The main purpose of the meeting is to improve regional ties and cooperation and to strengthen contacts between people, interested in regional policy, economy and international relations.
Speaking about the conflicts in the South Caucasus, Tanrisever noted their complexity. He said that it does not worth expecting their rapid settlement. However, certain actions may be taken to resolve these conflicts, he said.
The conflicts in the South Caucasus, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, are among the priorities of Turkish foreign policy, he said. However, the conflicting countries must have a clear idea of a truce, satisfying everybody, to resolve them.
Therefore, the third countries are not able to resolve the conflict if the conflicting parties are not ready for this, he said. He assured that Turkey will continue to actively participate in resolving the conflict.