During most of this century, the republics of the South Caucasus included that region of the Soviet Union which had a direct border with the NATO member country, Turkey. Being an important flank of one of two superpowers meant having distinct, specific and deliberate politics in the region. In the Cold War period there was no chance for the political élite of the region to have or even intend to have any genuine co-operation with the countries of the NATO bloc or with the West in general. Those scientific and cultural contacts, which hardly could be called ‘co-operation’, were closely monitored by ‘competent’ institutions as people called the intelligence services here and these had the final word to say on everything as the highest expert available. Moreover, the West, and especially Turkey, was considered as just an enemy and the entire military machine—missiles and missiles carrying nuclear weapons among them—were directed towards the south.