Friday, November 5 2021 18:21

ArmInfo.The current situation in the South Caucasus is primarily characterized by the struggle of the countries of the region and neighboring states for the observance  of their own interests in the formation of a new, post-war status  quo. First of all, we are talking about Russia and Turkey, to a  certain extent about Iran. Academician of the National Academy of  Sciences of Armenia, Turkologist Ruben Safrastyan, expressed a  similar opinion to ArmInfo.

"In the case of Artsakh in particular, Turkey and Azerbaijan, against  the background of Armenia's defeat in last year's war, consider the  current situation to be the most favorable for extorting new  concessions from Yerevan. This is what they are trying to do by  stepping up pressure on Yerevan, including on the supposed  normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations," he said.

At the same time, Safrastyan expressed his conviction in the absence  of a settlement of the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict, noting in this  light the signs of activation of the OSCE Minsk Group. According to  him, Ankara's preconditions towards Yerevan, by which the Turks are  trying to prevent Armenia's assistance to Artsakh, is also evidence  of the unsettledness of the Artsakh problem.

At the same time, according to the academician, Turkey is very  interested in gaining land communication with Azerbaijan through the  Syunik region of Armenia, and through Azerbaijan and the Caspian, of  course, with the rest of the Turkic world. Thus, according to his  estimates, the "corridor" through Armenia is important for Ankara due  to two factors: Stimulating the integration process of Azerbaijan and  the implementation of its own pan-Turkist programs.

"The importance of the "corridor" for Ankara is further emphasized by  the planned reorganization of the Council of Turkic States into the  Turkish Union in November, following the example of the European  Union, which will give them a high level of integration. This  explains the heightened interest of Ankara in this project, "he  stressed.  Recep Erdogan is promoting the initiative to create a  Turkic Union consisting of Turkey, Azerbaijan, the Turkic-speaking  republics of Central Asia, led by turkey. In 2009, an agreement was  signed on the establishment of the Turkic Council. In November, it is  planned to hold a summit of the heads of state - members of the  Turkic Union.  Against this background, noting the importance of  Syunik for Turkey and Azerbaijan, the Turkologist is convinced that  their far-reaching plans are by no means limited to a single  "corridor", but lead to the annexation of the entire region of  Armenia. Safrastyan considers the regular stimulation of talks about  the "corridor" by Ankara and Baku, against the background of the  absence of any mention of the corridor logic in official documents,  as  part of the policy of pressure by Ankara and Baku on Yerevan.

"In this light, until Turkey removes from the agenda the  preconditions on the way of normalizing relations with Armenia, I  think it is pointless to conduct any negotiations with Ankara. The  presence of preconditions means that Turkey will do everything to  achieve their acceptance by Armenia. That will turn the negotiations  between Yerevan and Ankara into another Turkish means of pressure on  Armenia.  Meanwhile, it seems impossible to conduct real negotiations  in such conditions, "the academician summed up.