"South Caucasus is the intersection of interests, thats why the Cold War has not ended there"

"Karabakh conflict is the problem of not only Azerbaijan and Armenia. Karabakh is a conflict also involved by Russia, US and other interested states," director of Center for Strategic Research of Turkish Foreign Ministry Bulent Aras said at the Academy of Public Administration under Azerbaijani President while delivering a lecture on the theme "Changing world system and its influence on the South Caucasus region".

According to him, Russia's activity towards the solution of Karabakh conflict has not produced any results.

"Russia often arranges meetings of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents. But as seen, the trilateral meetings have not been efficient. Though the cold war ended in the world, it has not ended in South Caucasus, because the region is located at the intersection of the interests. The US still finds it difficult to determine its policy on Armenia," he said.

Touching on the economic situation of the countries of the South Caucasus Bulent Aras said he sees the development of the region in Azerbaijan. He considers that the development of the Caucasus is the developing Azerbaijan.

"The poor economic situation in Armenia has a negative influence on people. I can say that if we compare Yerevan and Baku, in terms of economic situation the center of Yerevan falls behind the settlements around Baku," he said.

Bulent Aras also analyzed the ongoing processes in the world. He said the world system is developing chaotically.

"According to my analyses, though the cold war ended in 1989, the period by 2001 should be called "cold peace period". The events of 11 September, 2001, were followed by the military intervention of the US in a number of countries, it was not successful," he said.

Bulent Aras said the most urgent problem in the world is the prevention of the economic crisis, racial and religious confrontations.


/APA/