ArmInfo. With his visit to Turkey for the inauguration of Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan once again showed that he is far from diplomacy. A similar opinion was expressed by former RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian. The diplomat recalled that Pashinyan's participation in Erdogan's swearing-in ceremony caused surprise and indignation in the broad circles of Armenia and the Diaspora.
"Honestly, this visit did not surprise or outrage me, because in Ankara Pashinyan represented not the Armenian people, but himself. He did not even represent his entire party or the entire government, because I am sure there are people there who are against his participation," added Oskanian.
Leaving aside the emotional and moral part of the issue of what values he trampled on Ankara, Oskanian presented their political and diplomatic component.
The former head of the RA Foreign Ministry once again stressed that if Pashinyan had minimal diplomatic skills, then the Armenian side would at least have avoided war. "And today we would have Artsakh with the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh of the Autonomous Region, the 20-kilometer Lachin corridor recognized by Azerbaijan, Turkey and the international community, and with an intermediate status guaranteed by the UN Security Council and with open borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Pashinyan did not understand that by providing assistance to Turkey after the earthquake and participating in Erdogan's swearing-in ceremony, he cannot gain Turkey's affection in terms of resolving Armenian- Turkish relations," Oskanian added, stating that Ankara will do so when it considers it appropriate.
At the same time, according to him, the key to opening the Armenian-Turkish border and establishing diplomatic relations is in Baku.
"Now that Nagorno-Karabakh is surrendered to Baku, and other conditions of Azerbaijan will soon be fulfilled, Turkey will open the border regardless of whether or not he visits," the diplomat said.
However, according to him, there is also the question of Pashinyan's dignity. "Erdogan, in the literal and figurative sense of the word, insulted not only the Armenian people, but also Pashinyan himself. Relations between Armenia and Turkey can hardly be considered more important than, for example, relations between France and Greece with this country. However, neither Macron nor Mitsotakis participated in that ceremony, I think also because Erdogan insulted them personally. It was right not to go. If among the entire Armenian people there was at least one person who would be hurt by this visit, then there would be no need to go, because without going, we wouldn't lose anything," he concluded.