Political expert: Turkey is not interested in Artsakh, but in energy resources of Azerbaijan

ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
December 21, 2017 Thursday


Political expert: Turkey is not interested in Artsakh, but in energy
resources of Azerbaijan

Yerevan December 21

David Stepanyan. In the context of relations with Armenia, I can say
with all certainty that in reality, Turkey is not interested in
Artsakh, but about the energy resources of Azerbaijan and the
preservation of its influence on Baku. A similar opinion was expressed
by ArmInfo scientist of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, political scientist Alexander Skakov.

On October 10, 2009 in Zurich Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers
signed the "Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations" and
the "Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations." The
documents should be ratified by the parliaments of the two countries,
however, on April 22, 2010, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, having
signed the decree on suspension of ratification of the protocols,
actually froze this process.

"Moreover, from the regional powers neighboring to Artsakh, the real
interest is shown not so much by Turkey as Iran, as regards the
unrecognized republic, I find that in the issue of establishing
relations with Armenia, in addition to Turkey's desire or
unwillingness, there is also a principally categorical position of
Azerbaijan, and Baku periodically reinforces its "against"
opportunities and levers at its disposal, including tariff and energy,
"the political scientist said.

Skakov, in particular, does not consider possible the progress in the
establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations right now, given the
attempts to improve the communication between Turkey and Azerbaijan
through the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Kars
railway.

At the same time, the political scientist considers the return of
Armenia and Turkey to the issue of normalization of relations quite
probable. According to him, the problem of establishing relations
between Yerevan and Ankara will remain relevant, the whole issue in
terms of the appearance of the necessary geopolitical changes for
this.

On December 13, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian announced
Armenia's readiness to "meet the spring of 2018 without the
Armenian-Turkish protocols," explaining this by the groundlessness of
the preconditions put forward by Ankara, contradicting the essence of
the protocols. On December 14, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish Foreign
Minister, announced Ankara's commitment to the Armenian-Turkish
protocols, describing the statements of the Armenian counterpart as
"not reflecting reality and aimed at misleading the international
community."