Russian expert: There was no normalization of ties between Turkey and Armenia from the very beginning

Senior research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of World Economy and International Relations Alexander Krylov says there was no normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia from the very beginning.

Krylov believes that the process of normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations should not be taken seriously, because no one has approached this issue in a fundamental manner so far.

“The main problem is that there was no actual process of normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. There was a lot of events in the style of television shows, the most glaring of which was "football diplomacy". Amid all this propaganda fuss, politicians from various countries made bold and strong statements claiming that the borders will open and relations between Turkey and Armenia will normalize soon,” the Russian expert said.

“When those involved in this process were asked how the problems will be solved, they  could say nothing concrete only expressing their firm confidence in the success of this endeavour.”

“I was confident from the outset of this process that taking advantage of this fuss politicians from different countries try to address their own problems related or not related to normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. It is clear that if the parties were prepared to seriously address the problem, they would have held serious discussions over well-known major problems between Turkey and Armenia. These are mutually exclusive interpretation of the events of 1915 and completely different attitude to the Karabakh problem,” the expert added.

“It seems that these issues were not discussed even in the secret talks. The sides do not speak about them in a public dialogue either. Instead, the parties continue to declare their mutually exclusive positions. So, it would mean misleading the public to talk about fast normalization of relation on this background. So, we should not say that process of normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia has been stalled, but rather this process has not started," the expert noted.

As to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Krylov believes that Kazakhstan can be quite effective mediator in the settlement of the conflict as the country has repeatedly voiced its readiness to help in resolving this protracted problem.

"I think that Kazakhstan has such ambitions. First of all, because Nursultan Nazarbayev is well familiar with the Karabakh problem since Soviet times. The negotiation process on the Karabakh problem has much in common with what is going on in Turkey-Armenia relations. Although there is the Minsk Group and Madrid principles, constant efforts to coordinate them indicates there is no real progress in solving the problem. In fact, the parties continue to insist on the surrender of the negotiating partner.”

“Azerbaijani President insists on return of all territories occupied by neighboring Armenia. After that Nagorno-Karabakh may be granted some autonomy. The Armenian President, in turn, insists on completely opposite,” the expert added.

“In this difficult situation, lowering extent of promotional activity by the parties, termination of the information war and start of real dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia to solve Nagorno-Karabakh problem would be Kazakhstan’s great achievement as the OSCE chairman. A compromise solution is impossible without mutual concessions, and if Kazakhstan is able to convey an understanding of this seemingly simple truth to both sides, it will be much more effective mediator than the Minsk Group and all other former mediators,” the expert underscored.

T. Teymur