YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Armenia has received a formal invitation from Turkey to travel to the Turkish capital of Ankara in late January for talks talks on bringing the countries of the region closer together in a stability and cooperation platform touted by Turkey as a solution for securing the long-term stability of the South Caucasus, Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tigran Balayan said Wednesday.
Official Ankara announced plans to create a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform in August following a brief but devastating conflict in Georgia over its breakaway province of South Ossetia. The regional mechanism, which was welcomed by Armenia’s President shortly after, would include the three South Caucasus countries plus two regional heavyweights, Turkey and Russia.
The meeting is set to include representatives from each of the country invited to join the platform, but whether Georgia will join or not still remains unclear. Representatives from the five countries met around this issue for the first time on December 4, on the sidelines of an annual OSCE Ministerial meeting in Helsinki.
According to Balayan, a draft agreement on the platform is being prepared for discussion at the meeting.
