ArmInfo.Russia is trying with all its might to avoid the escalation of the war in Artsakh into another Russian-Turkish war. A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Turkologist Ruben Safrastyan.
"Unlike Moscow, Erdogan, according to his long-standing habit, is in constant search of new conflicts. Russia and Turkey remain adversaries and over time their confrontation will only deepen. Nevertheless, there are common interests between them, in particular, in Syria. However, these interests do not cancel the opposite positions of Moscow and Ankara in our region. And I think that it is the Caucasus that will lead to the intensification of these geopolitical contradictions, "he stressed.
According to the academician, Erdogan has already achieved Turkey's influence and status in the South Caucasus equal to Russia's. And its main goal is to demonstrate its own influence in order to participate in the negotiation process on Artsakh. However, in response to these ambitions of Ankara, Moscow has already voiced its commitment to the format of the OSCE Minsk Group. The latter, according to Safrastyan, testifies to Russia's unwillingness to act as Turkey's partner in a separate negotiation process. At the same time, the current situation around Artsakh, according to the forecasts of the Turkologist, is part of Erdogan's efforts towards the implementation of the Turkish pan-Turkist program to create the "Great Turan". And after the entry of Erdogan's Justice and Development party into a coalition with the pan- Turkist Nationalist Movement party, Erdogan's pan-Turkic aspirations only intensified.
In parallel with pan-Turkism, Erdogan, according to Safrastyan, also manifests pan-Islamist ambitions. The academician sees the latter in the numerous attempts of the Turkish president to increase his own authority and act as the leader of the Islamic world as a whole. "All this, of course, is extremely disliked by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, which is manifested in the aggravation of their relations with Turkey," the academician concluded.