Erdogan's U.S. visit was test for Turkish leadership's public assurances for Azerbaijan: political analyst

Most likely, Azerbaijan and Armenia watched Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the U.S. and his meeting with President Obama with more tension than Turkey itself, Azerbaijani political expert Rasim Musabayov said.

“Armenians hoped that President Obama will influence Erdogan so that normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations will progress without regard to Azerbaijan. For Azerbaijan, this visit was a test for Turkish leadership’s public assurances that Armenian-Turkish border will not open till a progress in resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” the expert said.

“Apparently, Azerbaijanis can feel more satisfied from Erdogan’sWashington visit than Armenians. The Turkish leader said at a press conference that at the talks with President Obama he debated intensification of efforts of the Minsk Group, co-chaired also by the United States, in resolving the Karabakh conflict,” he added.

“He has also publicly stated that without progress in this direction the Turkish parliament will not ratify the protocols signed with Armenia, and the government can not impose its will on the MPs. It is important that Erdogan has publicly said it all while the U.S. did not oppose, and prefers to keep silent for the time being. As a result, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) explicitly declares that Turkey managed to push its preconditions through the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations,” the analyst noted.

“It is difficult now to say how far Prime Minister Erdogan could push the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh through the foreign policy priorities of the United States, but it is obvious that Armenians should not expect anything positive for them and distressing for the Azerbaijanis atleast for the coming months. Armenian will fail to strengthen its position in the negotiations held under the Minsk Group mediation,” the expert said.

I. Mammadov
Day.Az