MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - An important...
Turkey and Armenia signed on Saturday historic accords on restoring diplomatic relations and opening borders. The documents have yet to be ratified by the country"s parliaments, and face fierce opposition from nationalist parties in both countries.
Mikhail Aleksandrov, head of the Caucasus department at the Institute of CIS Studies, said: "one important consideration for Turkey was to advance economic ties with Armenia, because the West has deceived Turkey."
"Turkey is not being let into the EU, the United States created problems with Iraq, and problems have arisen with transit via Georgia because Saakashvili started a war [with South Ossetia], and the Caspian pipeline passes through Georgia."
"In other words, U.S. policy has jeopardized Turkey"s economic interests," he said.
Aleksandrov said that because of these circumstances, Turkey proposed a plan of regional integration with the participation of the three Caucasus states, Russia and Turkey.