RUSSIAN EXPERT: THERE WAS NO NORMALIZATION OF TIES BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA FROM THE VERY BEGINNING
T. Teymur

Today
938.html
Feb 18 2010
Azerbaijan

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.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress