Armenian analyst on Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem’s pressure on Armenia and Russia’s and Turkey’s presence

News.am, Armenia

The Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem is pressuring Armenia (border incidents, Aliyev’s statements) to force the country make concessions quickly while it is weak. This is what political scientist Suren Sargsyan wrote on his Facebook page.

“On the Syunik corridor (road)

The corridor (road) passing through Syunik Province that will link Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan and then to Turkey, will have a serious impact from the perspective of regional security. The most important thing is who will be the guarantor of security of this corridor. It will be either the Russians or the Turks, and since there is still no corridor, I believe there is still no final agreement on which country’s troops will be there.

1. The Turks obviously want to have control over the road, have influence on Armenia, completely control movement from the north to the south and vice versa and keep Iran dependent.

2. The Russians want to maintain control over the road, as well as control over the Turkish-Azerbaijani cooperation and to strengthen their positions to a certain extent.

3. The Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem is pressuring Armenia (border incidents, Aliyev’s statements) to force the country make concessions quickly while it is weak.

4. Putin preparing Armenia for painful concessions means there will be a road in any case, alongside works for demarcation. At the same time, I believe the Russians are still trying to win time, taking into consideration their own problems. It’s even hard for a superpower like Russia to serve its interests in Europe, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), the Middle East, Central Asia and other areas. Sometimes Russia has to wait, and sometimes it has to organize a tactical retreat, and all this is on the backdrop of economic issues and political tension in the country.

5. I don’t rule out the presence of Turkish troops after an agreement is reached because, unlike the Russians, the Turks didn’t gain armed presence in the region after the war, even though they had a great desire. Perhaps the Turks will be there so that they can also balance the Russian presence,” he wrote.

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS