ArmInfo. Judging by the latest statements by Armenian officials, there has been some disappointment in Yerevan regarding the process of normalizing relations with Turkey. Victor Nadein-Raevsky, Ph.D. in Philosophy, director of the Institute of Political and Social Studies of the Black Sea-Caspian region, senior researcher of IMEMO RAS (Russia) expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
"At the initial stage of the process, there were illusions in Armenia, conditioned by the results of the 44-day war, according to which, after the disappearance of the main prerequisite, that is, after the taking of territories by Azerbaijan, Turkey will go to unblock the borders. Yerevan hoped that the normalization of relations with Ankara would weaken Baku's influence on it. Such a strategy was visible from the statements made from Yerevan," he noted.
However, according to the Turkologist Ankara and Baku are guided by their own strategic calculations, within which they hold the process of unblocking the borders with Armenia as the icing on the cake of the common normalization process. Since they are well aware that by opening the border, they will not immediately receive a positive decision on the status of Artsakh and communications through the territory of Armenia.
At the same time, Turkey itself, according to Nadein-Raevsky, has no weighty reasons for continuing the blockade of Armenia. In this sense, Ankara, in his opinion, in this matter is a kind of hostage to Baku's policy, that is aimed at resolving the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh in favor of Azerbaijan and obtaining a corridor to Nakhichevan through Armenia.
Commenting on the current policy of Turkey, the Turkologist described it as oriented towards national interests. Being a true ally of NATO and trying to demonstrate this constantly, on the other hand, Recep Erdogan repeatedly goes beyond all the limits prescribed by Washington. And it was under Erdogan that Turkey became more active in pursuing a policy oriented both to the West and to the East. This was largely facilitated by the coup attempt in 2016, in which Ankara blamed Washington.
"As of today, there are three pronounced accents in Turkish foreign policy. First of all, it is the incitement of pan-Turkic sentiments with the aim of consolidating all Turkic peoples into a single state of Turan. Second, neo-Ottomanism, expressed in the buildup of Turkish political influence in countries that were previously part of the Ottoman Empire. And, finally, the strengthening of geopolitical influence through the religious factor, Islamism," the Turkologist summed up.