Expert: Turkish election to be held amid strong pressure on military

PanARMENIAN.Net - Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Armenian Academy of Sciences, Professor Ruben Safrastyan said the ruling Justice and Development Party ((AKP) in Turkey will most likely win the upcoming parliamentary elections.

However, there are certain forces in the West, which do not want AKP’s victory, what is basically conditioned by the fact that Turkey’s foreign policy has become unpredictable and gained definite anti-Armenian and anti-Israeli elements, Safrastyan told a roundtable discussion, titled “Turkey on the Threshold of Elections.”

As for Turkey’s integration into Europe, Safrastyan said Ankara does not make any concessions either in the Kurdish or Cyprus problems. He referred to an article published by The Economist, in which the author urged Turkish citizens to vote against Erdogan’s party during the June 12 parliamentary election.

Safrastyan noted that the election will be held in Turkey against the background of a strong pressure on the military. He said that many army men in the country are either arrested or on remand in the Sledgehammer coup case.