Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 12 2009

Putin’s Turkey visit stirs mixed feelings in Yerevan

Wednesday, August 12, 2009
YEREVAN – Daily News with wires

Armenians watched Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s recent visit
to Turkey with a mixture of hope and suspicion amid the normalization
talks between Yerevan and Ankara, Eurasia.net reported Tuesday on its
Web site.

While many in Armenia see potential benefits arising from closer
Turkish-Russian relations, worries persist among Armenian leaders and
experts that Turkey’s importance in the eyes of the Kremlin may come
to outweigh that of Armenia, Eurasia.net wrote.

The Armenian government has adopted a neutral tone on the Aug. 6 to 7
visit and, officially, there was no indication that the issue of
Armenian-Turkish relations was discussed in any form during Putin’s
trip to Ankara. But after more than a year of attempts to normalize
relations with Turkey and reopening the Armenian-Turkish border, the
visit nevertheless stirred mixed feelings in Yerevan.

`Of course, it is not a pleasant thing to see your strategic partner
[Russia] building ambitious programs with countries with which Armenia
has problems,’ the online magazine new.am quoted Aram Safarian, a
member of parliament with the Prosperous Armenia Party, part of the
country’s government coalition, as saying.

Yet in the energy sphere, Armenian and Russian interests can easily
coincide with those of Turkey, noted Alexander Iskandarian, director
of the Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute. `Russia is a major
shareholder in the Armenian energy system and is interested in the
possibility of exporting Armenian electricity to Turkey,’ he
said. `This indicates that Turkish-Russian contacts are beneficial to
Armenia.’

Uncertain results

Electricity exports to Turkey were expected to start in April or May
2009, but have thus far not begun. There has been no official
explanation for the delay, but, presumably, diplomatic obstacles are
to blame, Eurasia.net wrote.

One opposition member, though, believes that Russia’s involvement in
Turkey may upset the existing balance of power in the South Caucasus,
with uncertain results for Armenia. `Russia has already somewhat
shattered the balance in the region by intensifying its contacts with
Turkey and, especially, with Azerbaijan,’ said political analyst
Styopa Safarian, a MP affiliated with the Heritage Party and a member
of parliament’s foreign-affairs committee.

Moscow recently signed an agreement with Baku on gas sales to the
Russian republic of Dagestan and named a price for gas purchases from
the second phase of the country’s ambitious Shah Deniz project.

Other experts are more optimistic, believing that the Kremlin will
push officials in Ankara to reopen Turkey’s border with Armenia. Such
a development would ease Armenia’s ability to export goods. `Russia,
in fact, is interested in opening the Turkish-Armenian border, as
after the August 2008 war, it lost Georgia as a route to Armenia, its
military and economic partner,’ said Iskandarian.

Armenian President Sergei Sarkisian made clear last month that he
would not accept Turkish President Abdullah Gül’s invitation to
watch the Oct. 14 return match of the two countries’ national soccer
teams unless Turkey takes `real steps’ to reopen its border with
Armenia.

The two presidents attended the first game played in Yerevan in
September of last year.