So far, the Turkish president has not responded to the invitation of the President of Armenia to attend the events commemorating the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide on April 24 in Yerevan. Instead, he has sent an invitation to the President of Armenia to attend the Centennial of Gallipoli battle, which is celebrated in Turkey on April 24 with great fanfare, in the event that it has taken place on March 18. This was followed by the message of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on the day of the 8th anniversary of the murder of Hrant Dink, in which he assures, “Once again, our desire of establishing friendship is sincere.” At the same time, Davutoğlu has assured that it is not a calculated move. Do these assurances by the Turkish sides inspire confidence, especially with regard to calculations?
“Heritage” faction MP Tevan Poghosyan claimed in the conversation with Aravot.am that the Turkish policy always underlies calculations. “Especially when it comes to the Republic of Armenia, the problems there are neither brotherhood nor emotional. There have always been a calculation and hostility.” To the question of what calculation has been done by Turkey in this case, and what we should be cautious, Mr. Poghosyan replied, “The Turks dream about eliminating Armenians and the Armenian statehood around the world. Therefore, no diplomatic relations was established since independence and no border was opened. We must always understand that there is a motto for Turkey, no Armenian no problem.” Mr. Poghosyan believed that the Turkish side is changing the strategy ahead to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide trying to attack first, while our goal is to convince the world not to believe the Turkish policy, under which, they try to show that they want to establish friendly relations with Armenians.
In response to our question of whether we come out of this situation as winners or losers, and whether on the background of the recent developments, we can continue to claim that Turkey will go for concessions ahead to April 24, Mr. Poghosyan replied, “Turkey can go for temporary concessions, I have even heard opinions that a pressure has been exerted on Turkey. But the Turkish side makes a move under pressure. As for the winning or losing, the currently, all countries in the world estimate that the ball is in Turkey’s court, many countries have made changes in their understanding, but on the other hand, we have not reached any results, nor resolved any issue.”
The fact that Turkey’s President not respond to Serzh Sargsyan’s invitation, Mr. Poghosyan believes that we can use it to our benefit in the diplomatic realm. ‘This must be voiced all over the world. Maybe it is good that they have not responded, we can once again show how Armenia can establish diplomatic relations without any preconditions.”
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
