Azeri expert slams Turkey's pro-Russian stance in conflict with Georgia

Political commentator of Azerbaijan's Russian-language independent daily newspaper Zerkalo has criticized Turkey for its stance in the Russian-Georgian conflict and betraying its allies in the South Caucasus.

In an article headlined "Russia posses threat to Azerbaijan", Rauf Mirqadirov said that instead of condemning Russia's aggression against Georgia, Turkey had not allowed US warships to pass through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles to go to Georgia's Black Sea ports.

"Russia committed an aggression against Georgia. This put in jeopardy the functioning of the energy, transport and communication projects which are of vital importance for Azerbaijan. It is unlikely that Ankara did not know that the sooner Russia would witness US military presence in Georgia, the quicker these projects would resume operations," Mirqadirov said.

He added that Russia would not confine itself to operations in Georgia. "In the conflict with Georgia, it was the question of the restoration of territorial integrity and the struggle against separatism, i.e. the issue that is topical both for Azerbaijan and Turkey... Moscow declared openly that it was going to use territorial-ethnic conflicts to exert pressure on the South Caucasus countries. It is clear to everyone that sooner or later Azerbaijan will face this [problem]. The appetite comes with eating. Ankara understands very well that Russia's appetite can be moderated only if western military presence, US one first of all, becomes a reality. It means that it was a question of the protection of independence and territorial integrity not of Georgia alone, but of all the countries in the region, Azerbaijan first of all. In essence, Turkey has showed Russia that it is ready to double-cross its allies in the South Caucasus, including fraternal Azerbaijan. The question is - what for?"

He argued that the reason is Turkey's selfish ends. "It is simple. One can earn good money on Russia, especially on its energy projects," he said.

Source: Zerkalo, Baku, in Russian 19 Aug 08 p 1