Political strategist: The course of the Armenian-Turkish  normalization is predetermined by geopolitics

ArmInfo.By and large, the further course of the Armenian-Turkish normalization is predetermined by geopolitics, and more precisely, by serious, regional geopolitical  players.  Political strategist Vigen Hakobyan expressed a similar  opinion to ArmInfo.

"In this sense, I would not focus on the content of certain  statements of the Armenian authorities. One way or another, our  authorities are not the main players in this process. Rather, they  are in the role of being led by the main beneficiaries and interested  parties of the Armenian-Turkish normalization. Negotiations are  ongoing - that's the main thing. Often contradictory statements from  Yerevan are also part of the technology of negotiation," he said.

According to the political strategist, the need to use such  technologies arises, in particular, in periods of need to appease  certain passions in society, as well as to distract some people's  attention from some internal processes. According to Hakobyan, as a  result of all this processes, the essence of what happened does not  change. The Armenian-Turkish processes are proceeding along a  pre-prepared geopolitical course.

Noting the scenario of the formalization of Armenian-Turkish  relations as predetermined by the main external players, the  political strategist, referring to a recent statement by  representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova,  points to the fact that the process was initially supervised by  Moscow.  Against this background, Hakobyan sees the existence of an  initially stipulated or accidental geopolitical consensus between the  main centers of power. It is in this light that he notes the lack of  counteraction to the Armenian-Turkish normalization by Russia, the  US, the UK and EU countries.  

The expert expressed the assumption that the only country that does  not like the Armenian-Turkish normalization is Iran. "Tehran is well  aware that relations with Turkey can be an alternative to relations  with Iran for Armenia, and, accordingly, there is a possibility that  the border with them may be closed if necessary. As Trump's national  security adviser John Bolton suggested to Pashinyan in 2018," the  political strategist summed up.