In this message, in response to the Turkish leader’s letter of January 18, the Acting President points out that the idea of establishing “a stability pact” in the Caucasus, proposed by Suleyman Demirel, has inspired Russia to give it serious consideration.
Vladimir Putin shared the Turkish president’s concern over the situation in the Caucasus and urged ever wider action to promote stability and peace in the region.
In Mr Putin’s opinion, settlement solutions should take into account the interests of the countries in the region, as well as their neighbours. The Acting President championed a continued dialogue between Russia and Turkey on regional issues and expressed hope for an early settlement of the Karabakh conflict, and as a result, an improvement in Armenian-Turkish relationships.
The Russian leader made a point of the fact that Russia, as a co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group on Karabakh, made every effort to resolve the protracted conflict.
In addition, the message gave details of the outcome of the Moscow-based CIS summit on January 25, whose agenda included the situation in the Caucasus.
The message was delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, who met with Turkish President Suleyman Demirel during his official visit to Ankara.