Political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan finds the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin’s visit to Turkey and the Turkish policy he pursues in the region, the meeting of the two Presidents is the result of the active Turkish foreign policy of the past two to three years.
The political scientist mentions: “When we follow official Ankara’s steps in the nearby regions, even in the South Caucasus, it becomes evident that the Turkish policy has become more aggressive. More concerning is that Turkey has started to agree upon its issues with the superpowers, even the superpowers having contradictory geopolitical interests in the region.”
As stated by Mr. Melik-Shahnazaryan, the proof of the spoken is Turkey’s penetration into Afrin and the success of Erdogan’s government in implementing a military operation in Syria and entering Afrin when the US’s heavy counter influence was in place from the opposite side: “Turkey dictates its conditions and it is accepted by geopolitical forces pursuing their interests in the region.”
Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan assures Turkey conducts an aggressive policy in the region. Asked what risks Turkish aggressive and active policy to Armenia encompasses, Mr. Melik-Shahnazaryan notices that the risks emanating from Turkey are evident enough: “Turkey does not hide its approaches towards a row of questions having a vital importance to Armenia itself. For example, Turkey’s explicit support to Azerbaijan in Karabakh conflict resolution, which is not an intermediated and balanced approach. Besides political support, Turkey participates in sustaining Azerbaijani armed forces, the economic cooperation is at a high level. Turkey does everything for Azerbaijan to have a greater role in various interregional projects.”
Asked if the construction of a nuclear power plant by the Russian Federation is not a green light to Turkey, Mr. Melik-Shahnazaryan replies: “I do not think it gives Turkey an opportunity to have a nuclear weapon. The nuclear power plant does not mean a nuclear weapon. They can recycle the waste, but in such cases the control mechanisms are strong. From the perspective of energy, Turkey becomes a serious competitor to Russia, but it enables building Russian pipelines. In this case, commercial interest is a priority to Russia. Selling weapons to Azerbaijan is a threat from the security perspective of the Russian Federation. An explosion in Artsakh means also monitoring in North Caucasus, as it was the case in the 1990s. However, the commercial interest again became a priority from the geopolitical perspective.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
