Erdogan hurries Yerevan: Time is running out
Expert opinions on Caliber.Az

INTERVIEWS  27 April 2024 - 13:58

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the Armenian government to be oriented to the existing realities to work out a roadmap for normalization of relations with Ankara.

“A new order is now being established in the region. It is time to put aside groundless memories, it is better to act based on the realities of the present time. Now Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan realizes this too. Now it is time to create new roadmaps on a realistic basis. I hope that Armenia will get rid of the darkness in which the diaspora has dragged it and choose the path of new beginnings for a bright future,’ the Turkish president told reporters accompanying him on his return from Iraq, Anadolu reports.

According to Erdogan, “the window of opportunity will not be open forever and it is necessary to use the moment effectively”.

Obviously, the Turkish leader is sending a signal to Yerevan that it is necessary to hurry up with the normalization of relations between Armenia and his country and with the preparation and signing of Armenia's peace treaty with Azerbaijan. And what exactly limits the “window of opportunity” that the president of the brotherly country is talking about? At the same time, he clearly sees a certain negative role of the Armenian Diaspora, which hinders these processes. How serious is this factor?

Foreign experts shared their thoughts on this issue with Caliber.Az.

Mehmet Iqbal Durre, PhD in history, Middle East expert, associate professor of the Department of Foreign Regional Studies at Moscow State Linguistic University, noted that President Erdogan's statement coincided with Ilham Aliyev's statement that Azerbaijan and Armenia are very close to signing a peace treaty.

“I don't think it's coincidental. Obviously, that's what Erdogan thinks as well.

Another important point: both statements were made after Putin met with the Azerbaijani president.

As for the question of what exactly prevents the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, it seems to me that Erdogan was referring not only to the Diaspora but also to the internal opposition in Armenia and the role of third countries that are not interested in this. As for the economic benefit for everyone, particularly for Armenia, if the border is opened, it is already clear,” the Turkish expert believes.

Conflictologist, doctor of international relations, professor at the Georgian Technical University Amiran Khevtsuriani said in his turn that in general he positively assessed President Erdogan's statement and would consider it very timely, given the current geopolitical context.

“With this statement, Erdogan actually supported the foreign policy aspirations of the Armenian government and signaled a principled readiness to fully reset relations. However, he also hinted at the need to finalize peace talks with Azerbaijan and sign a final peace agreement, which sounds quite fair, given the factor of the Turkish-Azerbaijani strategic partnership,” the pundit believes.

At the same time, in the context of the analysis, we have no right not to emphasize several pragmatic and peacemaking political steps taken by the Armenian government, which concern both diplomatic and practical aspects, such as the voluntary transfer of Azerbaijani territories (we are talking about the transfer of four villages to Azerbaijan), as well as Prime Minister Pashinyan's principled recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, and the latest statement that Armenia is not going to fight for Karabakh, he says.

“At the same time, he personally and his government are already openly confronting the Kremlin, which sooner or later will inevitably lead to the withdrawal of Russian bases from Armenian territory. Obviously, all these aspects are fully in Türkiye's interests, and Erdogan's cautious support for Armenia is quite legitimate.

“Of course, at this stage, Armenia needs both the rapid signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and the establishment of relations with Türkiye in parallel. In this situation, I think putting Armenia in a corner would be inappropriate from a pragmatic point of view. On the contrary, I would think more about opening windows of opportunity for it, especially at a time when official Yerevan enjoys the full trust and support of the West in this process,’ Khevtsuriani concluded.

Caliber.Az