As characterized by turkologist Artak Shakaryan, the former Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, elected in the position of President of Turkey, is the “smallest of evils” for Armenians. According to him, 52 % of voters voted in favor of Erdoğan support the policy of continuing the Armenian-Turkish relations at the same level. The turkologist also said that the Armenians living in Turkey and other ethnic minority groups, 12 % of voters, voted in favor of a Kurdish origin, Selahattin Demirtaş, who had announced to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. “Four million people voted in favor of him, in other words, this many people in Turkey is not against reviewing the Armenian Cause.”
In the conversation with us, the turkologist said that Erdoğan would not bring changes to the Armenian-Turkish relations. “Neither progress, nor regress. It would be on like it was”. Referring to Erdoğan’s earlier statement that being an Armenian is a dirty thing, the turkologist did not see anything weird, and said, “After that he had openly apologized for his words.” To our question of why he announced and afterwards had to apologize, the turkologist found it difficult to answer. As for the response by the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan that it would also be offensive for Armenians if Erdoğan were an Armenian, Mr. Shakaryan said, “I do not think that Erdoğan had watched and considered it.”
The turkologist also noted that Erdoğan is a legitimate president, given that unlike the LGU election on March, there was almost no information about electoral fraud during the presidential elections. “But, currently, the most important election for Erdoğan is yet to come. He must win the upcoming parliamentary elections in the spring to be able to introduce the constitutional amendment, with which, the president will become the strongest figure. Failure in this issue would mean that Erdoğan had conceded the strongest, the prime minister’s position. Erdoğan wants to become a president of totalitarian control like Putin. Now he must decide on whom to bring in the position of prime minister to keep the situation under control.” According to him, among the candidates for the office of prime minister, mostly the Foreign Minister Davutoğlu’s name is circulated.
Arpine SIMONYAN
