Public opinion in Turkey entirely favors Azerbaijan: Georgian expert
By Trend
Any change of power is, in general, a chance, but it is another question how big and realistic that chance is, Georgian political analyst Gela Vasadze told Trend commenting on possibility of the Turkish-Armenian relations against the backdrop of the change of the Armenian government.
The expert noted that in the statement of Pashinyan, which was made on May 9, it was said that Yerevan will not make claims to Ankara, but will continue to engage in international recognition of the "genocide", which is a contradiction.
The political scientist said there are a number of such contradictions between the two countries.
"If we talk about Turkey, the topic of the Turkish-Armenian relations in itself is very interesting, because Ankara is not against the opportunity of participating in the South Caucasus politics," the expert believes.
He added that although Ankara used to be perceived as an integral part of the West, today this is not the case.
"Turkey has its own political agenda, and this does not prevent it from staying in NATO and having an association agreement with the EU. And within the framework of this agenda, Ankara is interested in the opportunity to make some measurements of its capabilities in all three countries of the South Caucasus," Vasadze said.
He believes that Turkey's opportunities in this direction, however, are seriously limited, because Ankara depends on Baku much more than Baku does on Ankara, taking into account a number of factors.
"Firstly, these include the supply of oil, gas, etc. But this is primarily an interdependence. Secondly, public opinion in Turkey, including the opinion of media and the public figures who position themselves as friends of Azerbaijan, is entirely in favor of Azerbaijan," he said.
Vasadze added that he cannot even imagine Turkey taking a step that could be somehow potentially directed against the interests of Azerbaijan.
"This [opening of borders] is excluded, given the fact that Erdogan is a political figure, i.e. he is completely dependent on his voters and is very careful to their opinion. In addition, not all in Turkey share his views and are his supporters, so both foreign and domestic policy of Turkey is designed to strengthen and expand the electorate," the expert said.
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