ArmInfo. Europe does not burn bridges with Turkey on European integration and further interaction, Ruben Safrastyan the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia is confident, commenting on the latest diplomatic scandal between Turkey and the Netherlands.
The political scientist believes that the latest developments between Europe and Turkey are the continuation of the process of Ankara's "domestication" by Brussels. "The latest diplomatic scandal has shown that Europe's efforts over the past decades to domesticate Turkey have been in vain. However, this does not mean breaking the relationship between them, as evidenced by the statement of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said that Turkey needs Europe. As you know, Germany has a leading role in the European Union, and its position influences the course of the EU", Safrastyan said. At the same time, the political scientist believes that the diplomatic scandal that erupted between European countries and Turkey is an expression of Ankara's adventurous policy. In his opinion, in this way, Turkey raises rates and is still quite successful.
"The aim of the Ankara's current policy is to snatch from Europe as much as possible. The happening once again demonstrates that Turkey is not corresponding to European values and principals, but at the same time the Geopolitical location makes Europe to cooperate with Turkey", said the expert. According to him, the constitutional reforms in Turkey are aimed at strengthening of the current Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan's power and Europe does not like it, just like the fact that Ankara is trying to involve in this process its citizens living in European states. "Nowadays, Erdogan is trying to use its citizens living abroad in inner political processes, but it's not excluded that tomorrow these same people will be used as an instrument against Europe", considers the expert/
According to him, geopolitical location, military power and economic development of Turkey in recent years have made it a fairly serious player in the region, which will not turn out to be reckoned with. "This is also evidenced by the normalization of Russian-Turkish relations, which, however, can not develop because of a number of factors, including Turkey's membership in NATO, Ankara's purchase of arms from Europe and the United States. Moreover, I believe that the interaction between Turkey and Russia is tactical, as these countries have different interests on a number of issues, and this includes not only Syria, but also the South Caucasus", Safrastyan is sure.
At the same time, the expert considers that the increase of the image of Russia in the Middle East positively affects the image of Armenia in the region. "The existence of arms with rather range of fire in Armenia is impressive enough and increases the role of the state in the region as the range of the arms include Middle East as well", the expert resumed.