President Suleyman Demirel of Turkey has repeated his call for closer security links between Turkey and its neighbours in the Caucasas region.

Speaking during a visit to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Mr Demirel also said that future security arrangements in the region should be guaranteed by other European countries. However, the Turkish President emphasized that his proposal did not include the breakway Russian republic of Chechnya For his part, the Georgian President, Eduard Shevardnadzhe made clear that any pact should also involve Russia -- although the BBC Ankara correspondent says Russia's actions in Chechnya have made its neighbours in the Caucasus increasingly nervous, with both Georgia and Azerbaijan wanting to forge closer ties with the West

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service