ArmInfo.. During the discussion at the Armenian Foreign Ministry, it became clear that the absence of refutation regarding some statements around the Armenian- Turkish process does not mean at all that these statements correspond to realities. Head of the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs (AIISA) Stepan Safaryan told ArmInfo.
On February 16, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Armenia's Special Representative in the process of normalizing relations with Turkey Ruben Rubinyan met with representatives of the country's scientific and expert circles at the Armenian Foreign Ministry. The discussion of the process and prospects for the normalization of relations with Turkey took place on the eve of the second meeting of the special representatives, which will be held in Vienna on February 24. The first meeting of the special representatives took place on January 14 in Moscow.
"I can only say that these statements have not been refuted due to the presence of many reasons, which in turn are due to many circumstances. For example, the same statement by Ankara about discussions with Baku has at least two interpretations. Does the "discussion" presuppose the coordination of positions or simply informing about the processes with Armenia? We remember very well how the Turks killed the Zurich process at the request of Baku, but we absolutely do not know what decision Turkey will take today in case of contradictions between its own regional ambitions and the interests of Azerbaijan. Those interests can either coincide or contradict," he emphasized.
According to Safaryan, during the free, constructive, intense and sincere discussion, the experts asked Mirzoyan and Rubinyan questions and presented their own views on the Armenian-Turkish process. He also considered it important for the authorities to realize the need for discussions and consultations around this process. According to him, the general concern of the present representatives of the expert community was expressed in the form of doubts about the sincerity of Turkey's motivation and its goals regarding the achievement of concrete results of the process with Armenia. As well as suspicions about the imitative nature of the process on the part of Ankara.
Noting that there are no specific documents on the negotiating table and the general uncertainty around the normalization process, the analyst stressed the need to develop answers to many questions and forecast possible scenarios for the development of the situation. In particular, he considered it strange that Turkey started the process without mentioning its traditional preconditions. In this light, he noted that at a certain stage of the negotiations, Armenia is likely to face problems. And already today it is necessary to think and calculate what and whose problems it will be. In this light, Safaryan considers it necessary to discuss all possible scenarios in order to develop our own steps, "red lines", future actions in the negotiation process with Turkey.
"Since the process has just begun, neither we nor the authorities have answers to many questions. But it is important to emphasize that the government has a desire to compare its own versions and vision of the situation with the versions and vision of experts. So far, we have only agreed on the next meeting. The process is very complicated "and it needs to be laid on a solid, professional basis. In order to avoid mistakes in the future. It is also unknown whether the United States, the Russian Federation and the EU, which have already welcomed it, will take a unified position on the process in the future. Especially in light of the current deepening and aggravation of their relations," summed up Safaryan