ArmInfo.Despite the recent talks about the presence of certain positive signals from Turkey in the Armenian vector, the statements and actions of the opposite side leave no room for optimism. A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by former lawmaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, expert on Azerbaijan Tatevik Hayrapetyan.
On August 25, Turkish President Erdogan, at a meeting with ambassadors of a number of countries, announced "the creation of conditions for long-term peace after the end of the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh." "If Armenia uses this chance, Ankara will take the necessary steps." The region needs a constructive approach. And even in the presence of disagreements, it is necessary to develop neighborly relations on the basis of respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty. I wish success to the new government of Armenia, which has declared its readiness to move in this direction, " he declared. On August 27, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated the following: "We have received some positive public signals from Turkey. We will assess these signals, we will respond to positive signals with positive signals."
"Joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises are underway in the Kashatagh region. There are other indicators confirming, to put it mildly, the existence of discrepancies between the positive signals from Ankara and its real actions. In this light, the latest statements from Yerevan and Ankara suggest the existence of other processes, not subject to publication, at this stage ", she stressed.
According to the expert, given the unsuccessful attempts to normalize relations between Armenia and Turkey in the past, the Armenian-Turkish relations are a rather complicated case of regional policy. In her opinion, the problems between Yerevan and Ankara are multi-layered and are by no means limited to the issue of unblocking the Armenian-Turkish border. In this light, Hayrapetyan expressed her hope that the relevant departments in Yerevan take into account and calculate all possible risks and consequences of steps in the direction of Ankara.
Taking into account the presence of clause 9 (unblocking of all communications in the region - ed. note) in the trilateral statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan dated November 9, 2020, Hayrapetyan considers the current processes between Armenia and Turkey to be quite logical. Moreover, according to her estimates, actions to implement this point have already started. The problem, in the opinion of the expert, is the possible advancement of a new package of preconditions by Ankara to Yerevan on this path. Commenting on the current policy of Azerbaijan against this background, the expert described it as aimed at achieving delegitimization of the Russian military presence in Artsakh. In her opinion, today Baku is obviously making every effort to create grounds for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Artsakh. "The peacekeepers guaranteeing the physical security of Artsakh people, the statements of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries on the need for a comprehensive political solution to the conflict and determining the status of Artsakh by 180 degrees contradict the spirit and logic of Baku's statements and intentions. And it is the presence of Russian peacekeepers that is the main guarantee of preventing the physical destruction and ousting of our compatriots from their homes and homeland. It is clear that in Baku they see the solution to the conflict that way, "Hayrapetyan summed up.