Constitutional referendum means of satisfying Turkey`s preconditions  - Suren Sargsyan

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.