Political scientist Stepan Grigoryan says Erdogan's "Justice and Development" Party scored a fair victory in the Turkish parliamentary elections.
"Experts and observers thought that Erdogan's party would win in the elections. For 9 years, the ruling party has managed to ensure Turkey's economic development and has stabilized the country's financial system. Even after the global economic crisis, Turkey's unemployment reduced by just 4 percent," Mr. Grigoryan told "A1+".
The political scientist says Turkey's economy is 15th among the economies of other countries thanks to Erdogan.
"The only question was whether Erdogan's party would be able to garner two-thirds of the votes and reform the Constitution in parliament, but it wasn't able to. In any case, Erdogan garnered 50 percent of the votes, meaning that it will form the new government and become the ruling party."
Stepan Grigoryan also viewed the Turkish parliamentary elections from the angle of Armenian-Turkish relations.
"After studying Erdogan's and the Republican Party's pre-electoral platforms, I must say that their approaches on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are pro-Azerbaijani, but are very different in terms of Armenian-Turkish relations. Erdogan's party is ready to discuss any issue and undertake initiatives, but the opposition force has a very coarse position on Armenia."
Stepan Grigoryan finds that Turkish-Armenians have made the right decision by voting for Erdogan's party. The political scientist is sure that Erdogan will undertake several initiatives for Armenian-Turkish relations in August-September.
"It really matters how Armenia will respond to those initiatives. I don't think Turkey is ready to open the Armenian-Turkish border, but I have no doubt that Turkey will propose to ratify some points of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols. For instance, it may propose to provide consulate services in Turkey and Armenia."
Stepan Grigoryan doesn't share the view that Serzh Sargsyan should call back his signature from the Turkey-Armenia Protocols. "If the Protocols fail, they will still be important."
