Turkey is set to become a significant global power. The European Union is being difficult about the prospect of Turkey joining its exclusive though fragmented club, but the importance of Turkey is being recognised by many others, including the United States, Russia, Middle East nations, and, of course, the newly emergent Caucasus countries that once formed the southern part of the Soviet Union. Critical oil pipelines now connect Armenia and Azerbaijan with Turkey, and new ones are planned, including the controversial Nabucco project, which will link Azerbaijan with Vienna via Turkey, and reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.

These pipelines are only possible because of the end of years of chaos in the Caucasus during the rule of the Soviet Union, particularly the largely unreported and brutal Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict which persisted between 1992 and 1994, following 100 years of bloodshed and hatred between Armenians and Turks. Azerbaijan is now Turkey’s most important partner, but the conflict with Armenia made progress difficult until uneasy reconciliation in recent years.
Can this important region now live in peace?

Scott Taylor is the author of a new book, Unreconciled Differences: Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, will address this question as he traces the conflicts.

Scott Taylor, a former soldier, is the editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps, an Ottawa-based magazine known for its unflinching scrutiny of the Canadian military. As a war correspondent, Taylor reported from the Persian Gulf during the 1991 Operation Desert Storm. He has since made 21 trips into Iraq before and after Saddam's regime was toppled.

Taylor appears regularly in the Canadian media as a military analyst and is the receipient of the 1996 Quill Award for outstanding work in the field of Canadian communications.

In September 2004, Taylor and his Turkish colleague spent five harrowing days as captives of the Ansar al-Islam insurgents in northern Iraq. Since then, he has continued to report from Afghanistan and the Caucasus, including numerous trips into Armenia, Azerbaijan and the disputed territory for Nagorno-Karabakh.

RSVP CAIS: cais@anu.edu.au