Forecast: Erdogan`s maneuvering will force the West to put up with him further

ARMINFO
Armenia –
David Stepanyan

ArmInfo.Turkey's continued policy of maneuvering between the West and Russia will force the US and EU to put up with some of Erdogan's decisions even further. A similar  opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by 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), Turkologist.

"We see how Erdogan's tactics of maneuvering not only between the  Russian Federation and the West, but also in other areas demonstrate  very definite successes. As a result, the Turkish president manages  to get the West's consent to some aspects of his own foreign policy  today and enlist their readiness to turn a blind eye to such aspects  in future," he stressed.

According to the Turkologist, tracking Erdogan's geopolitical  overtures, Moscow, in turn, does not perceive Ankara's consent to  membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO particularly painfully. And  it continues negotiations with Ankara, continuing to discuss a number  of issues. In his opinion, Erdogan knows perfectly well what and from  whom he can get. And he never takes a single step in any direction  without first calculating what he can get in return.

In the opinion of Nadein-Raevsky, against such a Turkish background,  the activation of another regional power, Iran, practically leaves no  alternative for Tehran. The recent visit to Armenia by Secretary of  the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani, his  talks with the Prime Minister, Secretary of the Security Council of  Armenia, the analyst views in this light.  " Shamkhani's statements  in Yerevan  are far from accidental. I think that, in contrast to  Turkey, Iran is thus trying to position itself today as a country for  which the territorial integrity of Armenia is a foreign policy  priority. Thus, Tehran is trying to increase its own weight in  relations with Baku and Tehran ", he remarked.  

"All this opens up additional opportunities for Yerevan, of course,  in the case of a flexible diplomatic line.  The region is still in a  geopolitical vacuum, which can instantly be replaced by threats. But  all this simultaneously gives rise to opportunities for flexible  diplomacy in the direction of confronting Armenia with the Turkic  threat.  "Certainly, Armenia has the opportunity, even in the current  unfavorable geopolitical situation for Armenia," the Turkologist  summed up.