The USA and Russia do not want Turkish-Azerbaijani relations to be strengthened, the head of a Turkish think-tank has said.
Ogan, head of the Turkish Centre for International Relations and Strategic Analysis, said in Baku today that Washington and Moscow are trying to scupper Azeri-Turkish relations.
He told a meeting at the Azerbaijani president's Strategic Studies Centre that external powers had provoked the incident in which Azerbaijani flags were seen in rubbish bins at a football match in Bursa. Our countries should maintain closer dialogue, especially because we face some serious challenges next year, Ogan said.
The Armenian diaspora will step up its campaign in the USA for recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide, as the genocide issue has become meat and drink to the diaspora, he continued.
In the face of these external challenges and threats, Turkey and Azerbaijan should be ready for new provocations and the leaders of our countries should ensure a high level of mutual understanding, Ogan said.
Azerbaijan and Turkey are two fraternal states but many powers want to spoil this brotherhood, according to Ogan. “Today Turkey is heading for regional leadership and the policy of 'zero problems with neighbours' is part of this programme. The United States, seeing the lack of prospects in Bush’s policy, have developed a new strategy with Turkey as the main player,” Ogan said.
“There is an old saying in political science, 'Whoever owns Afghanistan, owns Eurasia'... The United States intend to pay more attention to Turkey in their policy on Afghanistan.
"Therefore, they have recently been calm about Turkey’s activeness in the Middle East and Central Asian. It is the first time that Washington has not said anything about Turkish-Israeli relations, because Turkey wants to normalize relations with all Middle Eastern countries and this meets US interests,” Ogan said.
Elkhan Nuriyev, head of the Azerbaijani president's Strategic Studies Centre, said that it is important to discuss urgent problems when diplomatic activity in the region has been stepped up.
Ogan also spoke about the fate of the Nabucco gas pipeline. He said that Nabucco's route will change in the light of the recent agreements on gas supplies between Turkey and Iran.
"While the West and Europe previously viewed supplies of gas from Azerbaijan and Central Asia as the main objective, now the possibility of getting Iranian gas and the further participation of Iraq and Egypt in this route through Turkey has become a top priority," Ogan said.
The West has initiated a more delicate geopolitical game in the South Caucasus and adjacent regions. But it does not mean that the West is not interested in Azeri gas, especially considering the existing infrastructure from Azerbaijan and Turkey and further to Europe, Ogan concluded.
1news.az