OBAMA HASN’T LINKED ARMENIA-TURKEY RELATIONS WITH KARABAKH
Aysor
April 19 2010
Armenia
In his interview with Azerbaijani 1News.Az Agency Eugene Chausovsky,
Eurasia Analyst at Stratfor (Strategic Forecasting, Inc), commented
the Washington meeting between Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan and
Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan and shared his view on US President
Obama’s position over the process of Armenia-Turkey reconciliation.
– What’s your opinion on the recent meeting between Erdogan and
Sargsyan?
– That was rather a standard meeting between the two leaders who
had declared their commitment to the process of ratification for
Armenia-Turkey protocols. However, the protocols are deadlocked
on their way to Parliaments of the two countries, and there is not
progress over the recent times.
– Do you think there was a pressure on Turkish Prime Minister in
Washington, in relation to the opening the border with Armenia without
linking the process with the settlement to the Karabakh conflict?
– U.S. President Barack Obama said that Turkey has to make its efforts
to normalise relations with Armenia; however he said nothing whether
the normalisation should be linked with settlement to the Karabakh
conflict or not.
– Does the White House realize that supporting the opening of the
Armenia-Turkey border without settlement to the Karabakh conflict,
they may lose Azerbaijan with its oil resources? And that they may
lose the only Muslim state in the region which has good relations
with the United States?
– The White House accepts importance of Azerbaijan; however, they’ve
got many other interests; so they have to balance, including in
relation to the issue of Armenia-Turkey relations.
– Well, how well the Americans understand the South Caucasus region
and the White House appreciates the importance of Azerbaijan?
– Although the U.S. administration is undoubtedly aware of the
strategic importance of Azerbaijan in the Caucasus, however this
must go with its relations with other nations like Turkey, Armenia
and Russia. As for Americans, they mostly have extremely limited
knowledge about the region.