Says analyst, Status quo Turkey's role in Karabakh dispute

Turkish Azerbaijani relations'Maybe there is a need to redefine. Turkey and Azerbaijan are one nation and two states, but the two are not one state. The family is getting crowded,' says a senior foreign policy analyst from TEPAV
Turkish support for Azerbaijan, expressed by keeping the Turkish Armenian border closed, has proved nothing more than a symbolic gesture, says a senior foreign policy analyst.
In addition, poor Turkish Armenian relations have hindered Ankara’s prospects of playing an influential role in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
“For the last 17 years, Turkey’s boycott of Armenia has not brought about a solution. It seems difficult to argue that the insistence on keeping the border with Armenia closed has had any positive impact on the resolution of the Karabakh problem,” Dr. Burcu Gültekin Punsmann wrote in a policy note for the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey, or TEPAV, an Ankara-based think tank.
“Moreover, Turkey’s policy has limited Ankara’s potential influence over Armenia,” Dr. Punsmann added. “While being a permanent member of the Minsk group and supporting its work, poor Turkish Armenian relations have hindered Turkey’s prospects of playing an active mediating role in the Karabakh conflict.”
Turkey and Armenia inked two protocols this month to normalize their troubled relationship in defiance of domestic opposition, the first intergovernmental text signed between the two neighboring states since the 1921 Treaty of Kars. The agreement is likely to be a harbinger of different in the south Caucasus, where the status quo, characterized by conflicts, divisions, blockades and trade restrictions, is far from being satisfactory, according to Punsmann.
“The status quo was not helpful for Turkey in terms of achieving its policy objectives,” she wrote. “The status quo is also hardly beneficial for Azerbaijan.”

China should accept status quo across Taiwan strait

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - China should accept the status quo across the Taiwan strait, Premier Wu Den-yih said yesterday.
Commenting on Chinese President Hu Jintao's October 1 national day message, Premier Wu said tensions have eased over the strait and both sides are trying to develop peaceful relations.
Hu said at Tiananmen Square China will continue to strive for better cross-strait relations in line with the principle of "one country two systems" and for "full unification of the fatherland."
"This is the common desire for whose realization the Chinese nation is striving for," Hu pointed out as he marked the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic.
"We hope," Premier Wu said, "the other side of the strait will under and accept the fact that the two sides are under two different governments.
"Only with this understanding can peaceful relations be developed."
The two sides should respect each other, Wu went on. That is the basis on which peace can be achieved between them, he added.
Peace contributes to the welfare of the people on both sides of the strait as well as to the security of Asia and Pacific and the whole world, Premier Wu said.
The task ahead for both sides is to "shelve dispute to bring about a win-win situation," Wu went on. "That should be the only choice for all the people on the two sides of the strait," he pointed out.
He stressed the importance of defense. "We cannot rely solely on the goodwill of the other side," he said, "for goodwill may not last forever.
"We want to purchase necessary arms and equipment to safeguard the security and sovereignty of the Republic of China."
Lai Shing-yuan, chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council, told lawmakers at the Legislative Yuan the people support the conclusion of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China.
One MAC poll shows a 54 percent majority of the people support the ECFA, which was questioned by Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Trong Chai, the minority leader in parliament.
"The fact is that a majority supports the ECFA, of whose details not all the people fully understand," Lai said. "But we are in the right direction trying to conclude the pact," she stressed.
She said she does not know what "Founding of a Republic" is.
It's an epic film made in China to mark the 60th founding anniversary of the People's Republic which DPP lawmaker Yeh Yi-tsin said describes the end of the Republic of China on Taiwan.