TURKISH PRESIDENT CONCERNED ABOUT SITUATION IN THE CAUCASUS
The Messenger
Nov 10 2009
Georgia
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has stated at the International
Strategic Research Centre in Ankara that events in Georgia have shown
that the frozen conflicts in the region could explode at any moment.
The Turkish President drew attention to the fact that, if during the
Russian-Georgian war the Montreaux Convention on the usage of Bosporus
and Dardanelles straits had not been applied the tragedy could have
been of a higher scale.
Gul added that there can be different opinions about the Karabakh
conflict but should be no doubt that the occupied territories belong
to Azerbaijan. No claims to the contrary from Armenia could be
considered. He also expressed his opinion that the intensification
of negotiations on this issue is required and as a first step the
occupied territories should be freed, as this could facilitate the
resolving of different problems in the region.