Turkish political scientist, professor of foreign policy at University of Boghazij in Istanbul Behlul Ozkan believes that Armenia has to take a symbolic step for the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and, according to him, that symbolic step is the dislocation of Armenian forces from the regions near Artsakh.
"The Turks don't want the dislocation of forces from Artsakh, but just the nearby regions. Only after that can Ankara justify itself in front of Azerbaijan and the Azeri lobbying in Turkey and continue the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations that it initiated," he said during a press conference today.
According to Behlul Ozkan, the purpose of his visit to Armenia is to find out the steps that have been taken in the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and what steps must be taken.
The professor finds that Turkey is only interested in Armenia because it wants to have good relations with all its neighboring countries.
"In that sense, the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is important. However, for opening of borders, Turkey must first see development of the Karabakh conflict settlement because the opening of borders and the settlement are part of the same issue," he said.
According to Behlul Ozkan, Azerbaijan is Turkey's ally in the region and Artsakh is more of an inter-political issue.
"Turkey will be taking a huge risk by opening its border with Armenia because the opposition will immediately accuse Turkey of betrayal. The Azeri lobbying and the pro-Azeri businessmen have a great influence as well," said the Turkish political scientist.
The professor didn't foresee a new Armenian-Azerbaijani war because Baku, according to him, is linked to the international community with its petrol and gas and will not endanger them. As for the Turkey-Armenia Protocols, Turkey didn't gain much and wasn't able to have an influence on Armenia.
Behlul Ozkan didn't see anything unusual or symbolic in Turkey's intention to hold a mass at Akhtamar Island on September 17 and, according to him, that promotes the economy and tourism.
