ArmInfo. The small steps forward following the fourth meeting between the Armenian and Turkish special envoys, Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic, in the Armenia- Turkey normalization process were obviously Ankara's initiative, expert in Turkic studies, Professor Ruben Safrastyan said in an interview with ArmInfo.
"I think it is the result of Ankara's tactics in its negotiations with Yerevan. Unwilling to open the border and establish diplomatic relations with Armenia as soon as possible, Turkey is making small steeps to produce an impression it is prepared for final normalization," he said.
In fact, however, at a certain stage, Ankara will demand that Yerevan pay for its last step toward a successful completion of the process. And the price is Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan and, of course, the "Zangezur corridor". Evidence thereof is Recep Erdogan's repeated attempts to link the Armenian-Turkish talks with Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, particularly with the notorious "corridor problem."
Turkey in tandem with Azerbaijan is pushing ahead with the "corridor" logic of unblocking transport links in the region, it being primarily Ankara's strategic policy and far-reaching designs, with the aim to rule out both Russia and Armenian control over the extraterritorial corridor via Syunik, for unimpeded shipment of any cargoes via Armenia and across the Caspian Sea to Central Asia. This proceeds from Turkey's pan- Turkic policy.
"Russia will not agree to an extraterritorial corridor, but it will insist on unblocking the transport links under its border guards' control, in line with the November 9 statement, which is in conflict with Ankara and Baku's interests," Mr Safrastyan said.
The conflicting desires of Moscow and Ankara are accompanied by Armenia strongly rejecting the corridor logic. Another issue to be specified is the safety of the transport links running to Russia via Azerbaijan, th expert said.