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Turkey-Armenia: Too steep for “zero-problems with neighbors” theory

Turkey has also legitimized itself as a permanent actor and acceptable broker in the affairs of the south Caucasus

-27.10.2009-

Turkey`s English Daily “Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review” published on 25 October Adil Bagirov`s article entitled Turkey-Armenia: Too steep for “zero-problems with neighbors” theory.

AzerTAc presents the full text of this article:

“As a rule, the art of successful politics and diplomacy, whose fundamental objective is to resolve problems, always aims to improve the ranking and position of a nation-state when there is a seeming balance, to preserve the status quo if someone is trying to change that balance or to do damage-control and stall the decline brought by forces outside its control for as long as possible.

However, the aim is never to worsen the country`s short-, medium- and long-term posture, goals and objectives – what is sometimes referred to as the national interest of the state. Regrettably at the moment, it seems to be the case that Turkey`s policy of “zero-problems with neighbors,” has resulted in the worsening of its geo-strategic stance in the south Caucasus and Caspian regions.

Conceptually, the notion of “zero-problems with neighbors” is a highly appealing and welcoming academic theory. The reality, sadly, differs, as there is no real precedent in the history of international relations for any one country to rapidly improve relations and resolve several sizeable problems in a short, compressed time-frame. >>>