Establishing relations with Armenia, Turkey increases chances of rapprochement with Europe: European analyst

"Turkey's relations with Armenia do not have a direct impact on the EU accession process," Barysch wrote via e-mail. "If Turkey is seen as responsible and conciliatory, its relations with the West will become easier."

On August 31, Turkey and Armenia agreed to start their internal political consultations on the establishment of diplomatic ties and development of bilateral relations.

Turkey and Armenia agreed to launch internal political consultations over two protocols, which had been agreed on under Swiss mediation.

The consultations were to be completed within six weeks which would be followed by ratification at Turkish and Armenian parliaments.

In addition to the so-called "Armenian genocide" in 1915, the Armenian territorial claim on Turkish lands of Eastern Anatolia is one of the main points of the Armenia-Turkey conflict.

According to Yerevan, about 1.5 million people become the victims of the events of 1915. However Ankara regards this number as overstated and insists that there was no genocide.

However, despite the long-term controversy, in April the two countries agreed on a "road map" normalization of the relations between them.

"The EU will acknowledge the moves to establish diplomatic and trade ties as a sign that Turkey is a responsible regional player - and therefore that its membership would contribute to the EU's objective to play a bigger role in the Caucasus and Black Sea regions," said Barysch engaged in research on the topic of Turkey and the EU expansion.

"For decades Turkey's foreign and internal politics has been dominated by a small number of issues (the Kurdish issue, Cyprus, Armenia) which have made it difficult sometimes for Turkey to focus on broader challenges," the analyst added.

By aiming to resolve, or at least alleviate, long-standing problems, Turkey gains room for manouvre to pursue broader objectives, to become a regional player and move closer to the EU.

Negotiations on Turkey's joining the EU have been continuing for several years. At present the talks at an impasse because of the unwillingness of many European countries, particularly France, to accept Turkey in the EU, which has the problem of human rights, but also because of Turkey's refusal to recognize Republic of Cyprus as the EU member and to open transport connections with it.

/Trend News/