Armenia replied to Turkey’s “imitation policy” through its statement

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkologist Ruben Melkonyan said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement on termination of the current stage of the Armenian-Turkish normalization is a reply to Turkey’s “imitation policy.” Though the process is frozen, but it has not completed finally, as Armenia has not withdrawn its signature under the Protocols, Mr. Melkonyan told a press conference in Yerevan. He noted that de-facto Turkey has frozen the process long ago.

The Armenian expert also stressed that Armenia has taken such а step right now to prevent possible speculations by Turkey and the U.S. on April 24. “The freezing of the Armenian-Turkish process is advantageous for Turkey to some extent, since it will gain time through it. As soon as it solves internal problems, the country will be able to resume the Armenian-Turkish normalization from a new side,” said Melkonyan, adding that currently Turkey is straining its political machine to find an adequate response to Armenia’s statement. “In my opinion, Turkey’s reply will not be tough,” the Armenian expert noted, adding that possibly Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will try to use this statement for speculations. “But these attempts will be baseless, as Armenia appeared to be a more reliable partner for the world, in contrast to Turkey,” said Melkonyan.

The Armenian expert also said he does not think that the latest developments in the Armenian-Turkish normalization will have an impact on the Karabakh conflict settlement, as they are entirely independent processes.

On April 22, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on termination of the procedure on ratification of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols signed in Zurich on October 10.