David Shahnazaryan, Hurriyet. It is wrong to believe that the extent of the build-up of Russian influence in Armenia is in line with Turkey’s national interest. Also, no one believes that if Azerbaijan attacks Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, the Russian military base in Gyumri would act to protect Armenian interests. The current tension in Armenia-Turkey relations could be diffused, as long as the process is free from external mediation. Unmediated contacts on the government level should continue, such as Edward Nalbandian’s visit to Turkey to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Erdoğan in August 2014. In fact, these visits are more likely to happen after the April 24 centennial. Because they were aimed at trying to produce agreement on the past from the onset, the Zurich Protocols could not serve as a basis for the normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations. To usher in the post-Zurich phase in Armenian-Turkey relations, it is clear that efforts to reconcile issues of history should be clearly separated from Armenia-Turkey relations at the state level. Only once diplomatic relations are established between the two states can a real process of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation between societies (including the diaspora) start.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 20:47:22 +0000
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