IRAN WANTS TO PUT PRESSURE ON TURKEY BY USING ARMENIAN FACTOR

TREND News Agency
July 22 2008
Azerbaijan

The willingness of Iran to cooperate between Turkey and Armenia is
an original method to put pressure on the official Ankara, and a
response to the mediation by Turkey between Syria (Iranian ally)
and Israel (Iranian opponent).

" Iran wants to bring pressure on Turkey by using the Armenian
factor," Hatam Gadiri the Iranian expert on the Caucasian countries,
told Trend News .

Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian Foreign Minister, stated during
the telephone conversation with Edward Nalbandian, Armenian’s
Foreign Minister, that Iran was ready to mediate between Turkey and
Armenia. Mottaki said that he hoped to remove the strained relations
between Armenia and Turkey, the website of the Iranian channel IRIB
reported.

"The Armenian lobby in Iran is strong, and using this factor, Armenians
demand from Iran to mediate in order to restore its relations with
Turkey," Gadiri said via a telephone from Teheran.

Turkey severed its diplomatic relations with Armenia because of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. However, the main
differences between Yerevan and Ankara touch the events, which took
part in the early of 20th century, when mass of Armenians were killed
in the Ottoman Empire during the World War the first. Armenia condemns
that over one million of Armenians were killed in the Empire. However,
Turkey rejects this fact of genocide, BBC Russian reported.

According to Gadiri, as Turkey mediates between Syria and Israel,
Iran also wants to "play" with Turkey using the Armenian factor.

"Actually, Turkey started to play with Iran first and ‘put its cards
on the table’ against Iran, but the official Teheran, in response,
wants to put pressure on Turkey. Now, Armenia is the trump-card for
Iran,’ Gadiri said.

Ufug Coshgun, Turkish political scientist, considers that the
statements by Iran about readiness to act as a mediator between Turkey
and Armenia, was made as an alternative to the mediation by Turkey
between Syria and Israel.

According to Coshgun, if Iran will mediate between Turkey and Armenia,
then a positive result can be reached.

" Ankara has principal and unchanged conditions to restore relations
between Turkey and Armenia. If Armenia will accept the conditions
of Turkey, then it will be fruitful for Azerbaijan as well," Coshgun
told Trend News on 21 July.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress