Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be in Turkey next week for talks on a Turkish proposal to create a Caucasus platform to discuss regional cooperation and stability. Eka Tkeshelashvili, the foreign minister of Georgia, which lost its breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after a brief war with Russia following an offensive in South Ossetia on Aug. 7, will be in İstanbul on Sunday for talks with his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, officials said. Lavrov and Tkeshelashvili are not expected to meet.
Turkey is a NATO member and it is committed to supporting Georgia's territorial integrity. But its dependence on Russia for natural gas imports, close economic ties and expanding political cooperation make Moscow a neighbor that Ankara does not want to antagonize. Contrary to the strong European and US reaction against a Russian decision this week to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations, Ankara released a brief and timidly worded statement, expressing concern over the "developments." There was no reference to the Russian act of recognizing the breakaway regions, although the statement underlined Turkish support for Georgia's territorial integrity.
Similarly, Ankara reportedly opposed a US request to send AWACS planes to the Black Sea region as a measure against Russia during a NATO meeting earlier this month and rejected another US request to send two Navy hospital ships to the Black Sea to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia, saying that, due to their gigantic weight, their passage through the Turkish Straits would be in violation of the international Montreux Convention regulating such passage. The US eventually sent two Navy ships that were in compliance with the Montreux standards and a third one is expected to pass through the straits soon.
But Ankara's overemphasis on ties with Russia might cause it to drift away from its Western allies, which push for a much harder stance on Russia than Ankara would ever agree to. "In terms of the tough measures NATO is considering for Russia, possibilities are growing that Ankara may end up alienated [from the West]," wrote Semih İdiz, a columnist for the Radikal daily. "Right now, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Georgia want a NATO presence to counterbalance Russia in the Black Sea. In sum, the number of Black Sea littoral states that do want NATO there is bigger than those that do not. In fact, Russia and NATO member Turkey are the only littoral states that do not want NATO in the Black Sea."
In a move that appeared to aim at striking a balance between these divergent interests, Foreign Minister Babacan had a flurry of phone conversations with Western officials, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, on Wednesday to assure them that Turkey attaches great importance to Georgia's territorial integrity, according to a statement released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Thursday. Contrary to the earlier Foreign Ministry statement that did not mention Russian recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Babacan told them that Turkey was concerned about the Russian move.
Babacan also spoke to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt of Sweden, which is the chairman of the Council of Europe and of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb.
Babacan also exchanged views on the proposed "Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform" with the US and European officials. The US views the proposal with suspicion and has complained that it was not consulted before Ankara announced it.
Ankara to host Mammadyarov today
The Foreign Ministry announced yesterday in a brief written statement that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay a visit to the Turkish capital today for talks with Babacan.
"In addition to recent developments in the Caucasus, bilateral issues will be discussed," the statement, which was released in late afternoon, said.
Ankara aspires to bring Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and Turkey to the same table within the framework of the "Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform."
Büyükanıt sees no violation of Montreux at all
Outgoing Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt has clearly stated that the passage of US and NATO military ships through the Turkish Straits is in compliance with terms of an international convention that regulates passages through the straits.
Büyükanıt's remarks on the issue came as he was speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening at a reception at the Land Forces Command.
"Some individual persons are not reading the Montreux Convention, but they are writing it. Let them read it, for God's sake," Büyükanıt was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency in response to a question on whether the ships passing through the Turkish Straits have been in compliance with the terms of the 1936 Montreux Convention.
"The Montreux Convention is being implemented word for word. At the moment there is no situation in the Black Sea that is contrary to the Montreux Convention, it is that simple," Büyükanıt added, criticizing those who suggest that the terms of the Montreux Convention have been violated and that Turkish authorities have overlooked these violations.
Last Friday the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) formally requested a statement on whether the US ships passing through the Turkish Straits met Montreux standards. The CHP's Onur Öymen issued a formal inquiry to Foreign Minister Ali Babacan over whether the United States had complied with the Montreux requirement that all warship passages have to be declared to Turkish authorities eight days in advance.
Report: Russia warns Turkey over ships
Russia, which has complained of a NATO "build up" in the Black Sea, has publicly praised Turkey's compliance with Montreux standards. But Moscow is watching to see if US and other NATO ships will leave the Black Sea within 21 days, as stipulated by Montreux, and will blame Turkey if they fail to comply with these conditions, according to a report in the Turkish media.
"If the NATO ships continue to stay in the Black Sea after the expiration of the 21-day period, then I would like to remind you that Turkey would be responsible," Russia's deputy military chief Anatoly Nogovitsyn said, calling the entry of the NATO warships to the Black Sea a "serious threat to our security," the Hürriyet daily reported.
NATO, on the other hand, denied yesterday Russian suggestions that it was reinforcing its presence in the Black Sea, insisting that the group of warships was there on a routine exercise that had been planned long ago. Two US Navy ships are also in the Black Sea on a humanitarian aid mission.
NATO announced last week that a group of one Spanish, one German and one Polish ship had entered the Black Sea and were subsequently joined by a US frigate for a three-week schedule of port visits and exercises. "There is certainly no NATO build-up in the Black Sea," Commander Kevan McHale at NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) said. SHAPE said last week the warship deployment had been planned over a year ago and would conduct port visits in Romania and Bulgaria and carry out exercises with their navies.
McHale said the only other allied presence that NATO authorities knew about were two US ships involved in aid shipments to Georgia and ships belonging to the three NATO nations bordering the sea -- Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey. Ankara Today's Zaman
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