Wednesday, October 21 2020 15:03

ArmInfo. One should not expect  Turkey to be expelled from NATO.  Director of the Institute of  Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia,  academician Ruben Safrastyan, expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

"I assess the prospects of the bill submitted to the US Congress  demanding the expulsion of Turkey from NATO as unrealistic.   Nevertheless, in any case, today the US is interested in the  situation in Artsakh not only within the framework of their mediating  role in the OSCE Minsk Group, but also in much more broad framework,"  he stressed.

In this light, the academician attached special importance to the  visit of the Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to the  USA, scheduled for October 23. According to him, the visit is  important from the point of view of providing reliable latest  information about what is happening in Artsakh to US Secretary of  State Michael Pompeo. First of all, about the struggle of the Artsakh  people against the jihadist mercenaries who pose a threat to the  entire civilized world.

According to Safrastyan's estimates, if US President Trump in the  Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh was mainly interested  in the presence of terrorists, then his opponent, Democrat Joe Biden  condemned what was happening, actually speaking in support of Artsakh  and Armenia. The latter, in case of victory of the Democrats in the  upcoming presidential elections, allows us to hope for a clear  position of the United States regarding the Artsakh problem, in  general, and the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression, in particular.  

Nevertheless, according to the academician, there is no need to  overestimate what is happening, since all statements from Washington  are still not accompanied by specifics.  In this light, he considers  it very important during Mnatsakanyan's trip to Washington to present  to the attention of the US leadership the facts regarding Turkey's  direct participation in the training and transfer of jihadists to  Azerbaijan.  

"Nevertheless, we must always take into account that Turkey is a  direct US ally as well as a NATO ally. In this light, it is senseless  to expect any drastic steps by the US towards Turkey. In the best  case, Washington can put pressure on Ankara, condemning the Turks for  exporting jihadists to Azerbaijan. I am convinced that only the  United States and Russia can calm down the raging Erdogan. Moscow is  still trying to do this within the framework of the Minsk Group. And  it seems to me that the United States will very soon follow its  example," the academician summed up.