ArmInfo.In an interview with ArmInfo, the expert in international relations Suren Sargsyan said he is absolutely sure that "should the Armenian authorities' plans to hold a referendum on constitutional reforms be implemented, we will satisfy the preconditions Turkey is still setting."
"I mean some known documents in which Ankara is demanding that Armenia recognize [Turkey's] territorial integrity and waive any territorial claims in the future, as well as remove any mentions of Western Armenia in its Independence Declaration and Masis (Mount Ararat) from the Armenian National Emblem. I am absolutely sure that Turks are not going to waive the preconditions," he said.
In this context, Mr Sargsyan notes that Yerevan has actually satisfied two major preconditions set by Turkey - ceding Artsakh to Azerbaijan and giving up any steps towards the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. According to him, it results in a unique situation in the recently launched Armenian- Turkish process as nothing similar was observed during the previous attempts to normalize the bilateral relations.
The Armenian and Turkish special envoys for normalization of relations held their first meeting in Moscow, Russia, on January 14. Parliament Vice-Speaker Ruben Rubinyan represented Armenia, with Turkey represented by the ex-ambassador to the USA Serdar Kilic. Following the meeting, the Armenian and Turkish foreign office released similar statements on a constructive atmosphere at the negotiations. In its turn, the Russian foreign office stated that the parties showed their readiness to conduct a non-political and constructive dialogue.
As regards the current Azerbaijani-Turkish relations, the expert pointed out President Ilham Aliyev's debts to, first of all, Recep Erdogan for Turkey's involvement in the 44-day war. Mr Sargsyan is sure that Azerbaijan would not have gained victory without the Turkish, Israeli and Pakistani support. And, according to him, Ankara is expecting Aliyev's readiness for Azerbaijan's larger-scale integration into Turkish integration projects at the expense of Russian ones.
"At this point we should note the desire of Ankara and Moscow to draw Baku into the Turkic and into Eurasian unions respectively. And Azerbaijan is the 'lump of cake' these projects are contending for. The principal actors have not yet reached consensus over organizing a 'revolution' in Azerbaijan similar to that in Kazakhstan and over Aliyev's final choice between Moscow and Ankara. Otherwise, this choice might as well be made without him and in his behalf," Mr Sagsyan said.