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.