Radar Armenia‘s interlocutor is Turkologist Nelly Minasyan.
– Middle East Eye wrote that Putin demands that his plane be accompanied by fighter jets when he leaves for Turkey, fearing that Ukraine may attack him. Doesn’t this demand, under the packaging of the Ukrainian attack, contain other messages aimed at Turkey?
– Indeed, there was such information connected with security issues in the Black Sea region. Interestingly, the spread or leak was from the Turkish side if they constantly mentioned that it is possible to organize a meeting, and work is being done in that direction. I must say that there are many security problems related to the Black Sea basin, especially for the Russian side. Security issues are important in the case of the Russian president’s visit. Still, there are more serious issues here, which are related to the agreements made between the two countries during this period. There are issues that Russia and Turkey cannot agree on. In the initial period, Turkey announced that it would not join the sanctions against Russia, but, in fact, today, Turkey joined the sanctions against Russia.
– What is happening at the current stage of Russian-Turkish relations, taking into account Erdogan’s statement that the return of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law?
– From the very beginning of the crisis, that is, in 2014. Since then, Turkey has announced its position and advocated for Ukraine’s territorial integrity. In Turkey, they talk about this all the time, at the same time paying some attention to the problem of the Crimean Tatars. They actively cooperate with the leaders of the Khrimathatar group. It is noteworthy that they are given importance both in Ukraine and Turkey. But let’s look at the overview of the ongoing developments. With this statement again reiterating his previous approaches, we can say that Erdogan has a problem showing Russia his position regarding Ukraine. Erdogan’s position does not differ from the position of the Western states, although here more attention should be paid to the fact that Turkey will join “BRICS,” but at the same time, makes such statements. It is also essential here that Turkey has a more distant goal. In the case of a weaker Ukraine and Russia, it will be able to achieve more significant influence in connection with economic problems.
– What impact do Russian-Turkish relations have on the current process of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations?
– During the previous years, some observations could be made in the overview of the ongoing developments, such as that there is some common Russian-Turkish approach regarding the Armenian-Turkish relations. In my opinion, after the events in Artsakh, the strategic problems of these two states in the South Caucasus have become more acute. At this stage, Russian-Turkish relations are cold. Therefore, expecting that they can positively impact Armenian-Azerbaijani relations is inappropriate. On the other hand, Turkey is the state that has significant influence in Azerbaijan and can use it to achieve specific leverages, in this case, to limit Russia’s opportunities.
