Apart from this, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan hosts a potential for armed struggle between the two parties. There is a view that Iran, perceived as the strong country of the region, can produce a domestic armed conflict as a result of internal rivalries and demands for separation. Minorities such as Azeris, Kurds, Turcomans and Arabs are on the watch for the developments in Iraq. As it became clear that a Kurdish state cannot be established so easily in Iraq, this realization postponed the disintegration of Iran to later date. The fact that Saddam is again gaining power in Iraq increases Turkey's importance for the new US policy on the region.
Turkey is neither a dwarf nor a giant in the region.
Turkey is in the middle of conflicts in a region beginning from the Balkans to the Caucasus, to Iran, Iraq and Syria. In spite of this, Turkey attempts to use its' veto right within the NATO and to take some steps to become a regional power. Relations with the Central Asian Republics, especially with Uzbekistan, are normalizing again following Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's visit to the region. The most significant condition for the European Union to revise its' policy on Turkey within the next 10 years does not lie in economic parameters, nor in the concrete steps towards democratization. The EU wants to see whether Turkey can be beneficial in acquiring stability.