Russia hopes for Turkey recognizing Abkhazia

News.am -- Russia hopes Turkey will be the first pro-western state to recognize Abkhazia, and serious relevant work is under way, Alexander Rar, European expert for energy and CIS, stated in his interview with 1news.az, speaking of Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan’s visit to Moscow.

According to him, “a most serious dynamic policy is being implemented in the South Caucasus and Black Sea region, but it is not only Nagorno-Karabakh that is in question.” The expert believes the Nagorno-Karabakh problem to be “of secondary importance” in this context.

“The foremost topic is a fierce struggle for control over energy resources – which side will be the first to lay lines for oil and gas transit from the East to the West. The outcome is near. Very many players are competing in this field,” Rar said.

This is the reason why Russia is forming closer relations with Turkey and doing its best for Turkey, not Ukraine, to serve as a transit country for gas supplied to Europe and “thus prevent any attempts to construct any other gas pipelines through Ukraine.”

As regards the aim of RF Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Armenia, Yerevan “is not so important for Moscow now, but Turkey is.”

“Armenia is unable to seriously contribute to this big game. Rather, it can perhaps be a hindrance to Russia. Turkey is playing a much more important role, and Russia has focused its policy on this factor,” the expert said.

T.P.

Source: News.am