After Karabakh War, Armenia has better chances for diplomatic relations with Turkey

The trilateral agreement on the end of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh has set up preconditions for the restoration of Armenian-Turkish diplomatic relations, the political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 10, the agreement came into force to end the fighting that had been going on in Nagorno-Karabakh since September 27. Azerbaijan not only kept the positions taken during the escalation of the conflict, but also insisted on transferring a number of other territories under its control. In general, Nagorno-Karabakh lost two-thirds of the territory it controlled until September 27.

"The main reason for breaking the Turkish-Armenian diplomatic relations was that Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Now, this issue has been settled; Azerbaijan has liberated its territories and, whether Armenia admits it or not, the Armenian party in the signed agreement has recognized its defeat; thus, the conflict has been practically resolved," said Professor Togrul Ismail, a historian and political analyst from the Turkish University of Political Sciences and International Relations.

He believes that despite the formal elimination of the reason on which the diplomatic relations were broken, the restoration thereof may take some more time, since the Armenian party continues adhering to the "revanchism policy" and conducting its "aggressive rhetoric."

Since early 1990s, the official Ankara has been putting forward the resolution of the Karabakh conflict as one of the preconditions for opening the border and general normalization with Armenia, Ali Gadjizade, an Azerbaijani political analyst, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"The Karabakh conflict was the main reason for closing the Turkish-Armenian border. There are also other problems in Turkish-Armenian relations, in particular, Armenia's territorial claims to Turkey and accusations of Turkey of committing the so-called Armenian Genocide. Now, Armenia has a unique chance to improve its relations with Turkey; let's see whether official Yerevan could duly appreciate this chance," Mr Gadjizade has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 11, 2020 at 08:07 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.