Azerbaijani-Turkish Joint Pact on Centennial of Armenian Genocide

• 03.02.2015, 16:50
• Liana Hovhannisyan
•  Region,  "Insight" Analytical Center ,  World,  NKR

On the eve of the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide the government of Turkey remains faithful to its strategy of trying to distract the attention of the international community from Genocide recognition by inciting provocations on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The recent statement made by the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, is a vivid illustration of this kind of strategy. In his statement President of Turkey does not hesitate to once more take a role of a mediator, contending that the Turkish-Armenian borders can be opened only after “Armenian forces stop occupying the Azerbaijani lands”. In his statement Erdogan as always deliberately forgets to criticize the Azerbaijani aggression towards not only the Armenian armed forces , but also towards peaceful residents in the bordering villages; the ones who have to live with a constant fear of not becoming a target of  irregular  fire by the Azerbaijani armed forces  or be deliberately shot by an Azerbaijani sniper.

 How can such a role of a mediator be explained? The answer is simple: on the eve of the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide escalations on the NKR-Azerbaijan and Armenia-Azerbaijan borders will distract the attention of the international community from Armenian Genocide recognition. This is what Turkish government aims by not criticizing “its younger brother” for the latter’s impudent behavior on the borders.

Another interesting conclusion that one can derive from the same statement made by the Turkish President is a clear message addressed to the US and Russia, the one they should pay attention to. In his statement Erdogan notes that Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can easily be resolved if the US and Russia will want it. By putting the burden of conflict resolution on the shoulders of Russia and US, Turkey tries to relieve its younger brother from the responsibility for its destructive policies over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. To put it otherwise both Turkey and Azerbaijan try to maximize their gains in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by making advantage of the fact that at present both Russia and the US are more concerned with the situation in Ukraine.   

Thus on the eve of the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Turkey and Azerbaijan seem to have signed a mutual pact the logic of which could be interpreted by a wide-spread saying: “to fish in troubled waters”. Both Turkey and Azerbaijan try to make advantages of the difficult situation:  the West and Russia have to face because of the Ukrainian crisis, trying to succeed in  the face of their seeming failure. However it would be better for both Azerbaijan and Turkey to realize that “honeymoon” is not to last forever