TURKISH EXPERT: IT IS MISTAKE TO LINK PROCESS OF NORMALIZING TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS TO KARABAKH CONFLICT
Arminfo.
2010-05-20 12:00:00
ArmInfo. It is a mistake to link the process of normalizing Turkish-
Armenian relations to the Karabakh conflict, Dr. Burcu Gultekin
Punsmann, a senior foreign-policy analyst at the Turkish think tank
TEPAV, told ArmInfo.
According to her, there have been serious attempts to de-link the two
issues. The process of normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations and the
resolution of Karabakh can’t be inter- linked. " None of the members
of the OSCE Minsk Group seems ready to accept a change of the format
of negotiations. Despite the six meetings held in 2009, Armenia and
Azerbaijan only reached an agreement on the wording of the preamble of
the updated version of the 2007 Madrid Principles in Sochi on January
25, 2010. The normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations has the
capacity of fostering new dynamics in the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict, the most intractable conflict and among the biggest obstacles
to region-wide cooperation", Gultekin Punsmann said. She added that
at this stage, the interruption of the Turkish-Armenian bilateral
relations will dissipate the international attention focused on the
region and decrease the chances to reach in a foreseeable future an
agreement on the conflict over Karabakh.