Turkologist: It is possible that in the near future the Armenian issue may again be on the agenda

Arminfo, Armenia
Feb 7 2020

ArmInfo. Of course, the adoption by the House of Representatives and the US Congress of a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide played a significant role in this  process. Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the  National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, turkologist  Ruben Safrastyan stated this at a press conference on February 7.

He emphasized that close to April 24 we will finally see the work of  the Armenian lobby on the issue of recognition of the Armenian  Genocide. "Our specialists should prepare, as the events taking place  in the Middle East are similar to the events that took place at the  beginning of the 20th century, when the Treaty of Sevres was signed,  aimed at creating a Christian state in northern Turkey," the expert  emphasized.

Safrastyan noted that it is possible that we are on the verge of big  changes. In his opinion, the Armenian issue may again be on the  agenda, but it will have a slightly different nature, since today  there is already an Armenian state in the world. "I think that  Armenia, using "soft power", can push its agenda in public and  political circles of many countries of the world," the expert said.   He also noted that the United States began to reckon with Russia's  position on strategic issues. "The developments in the Middle East  are clearly signaling that we should prepare for any, even very  unexpected scenarios," Safrastyan emphasized.

It should be noted that according to the Treaty of Sevres, Turkey was  supposed to transfer to Armenia a territory of 103. 599 sq. M. km:  two-thirds of the Van and Bitlis vilayets, almost the entire Erzurum  vilayet, most of the Trebizond vilayet, including the port. Having  united with the Republic of Armenia existing in the Transcaucasus, an  independent united Armenian state would have a territory with an area  of more than 150 thousand sq. M. km, with access to the Black Sea.  However, Turkey has not complied with the terms of this agreement.