Suat KINIKLIOGLU, AK Party Deputy Chairman of External Affairs and Spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Turkish Parliament attended a conference called ‘The Future Visions for the South Caucasus’ organized by the John Smith Memorial Trust, the British Council and LINKS in Istanbul on January 17-18, 2009.

In the opening speech of the conference in which the South Caucasus and its Neighboring Region was dealt with, KINIKLIOGLU, highlighted that there was a continuing process that might lead to a resolution of problems in the region. KINIKLIOGLU said that all sides must act responsibly in order to make the promise of a stable and prosperous South Caucasus true.

KINIKLIOGLU said: “All the stars are lined up in the right place. We have the opportunity to facilitate full normalization between Turkey and Armenia as well as a meaningful process to come to a deal in the Karabagh conflict. Azerbaijan and Armenia have a historic opportunity to reach a solution to the intractable conflict in Karabagh.”

During his speech, KINIKLIOGLU said ‘In the current situation, we see that the Armenian Diaspora is trying to undermine the rapprochement process between Turkey and Armenia. We understand that they will introduce a new Armenian draft bill into the American Congress. However, we hope that the members of the U.S. Congress will understand that it is extremely irresponsible to do so and detrimental to the rapprochement process between Turkey and Armenia.

KINIKLIOGLU, addressing the audience, among which Matt Bryza, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Peter Semneby, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus were present, also referred to Turkey’s neighborhood policy