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'Cheated' By The West, Turkey Looks To Armenia - Analyst

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  • 'Cheated' By The West, Turkey Looks To Armenia - Analyst

    'CHEATED' BY THE WEST, TURKEY LOOKS TO ARMENIA - ANALYST

    RIA Novosti
    October 12, 2009
    Moscow

    MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - An important reason for Turkey's
    decision to sign a deal on restoring diplomatic ties with Armenia is
    that it feels cheated by the West and wants to secure its economic
    interests, a Russian analyst said on Monday.

    Turkey and Armenia signed on Saturday historic accords on restoring
    diplomatic relations and opening borders. The documents have yet to
    be ratified by the country's parliaments, and face fierce opposition
    from nationalist parties in both countries.

    Mikhail Aleksandrov, head of the Caucasus department at the Institute
    of CIS Studies, said: "one important consideration for Turkey was
    to advance economic ties with Armenia, because the West has deceived
    Turkey."

    "Turkey is not being let into the EU, the United States created
    problems with Iraq, and problems have arisen with transit via
    Georgia because Saakashvili started a war [with South Ossetia],
    and the Caspian pipeline passes through Georgia."

    "In other words, U.S. policy has jeopardized Turkey's economic
    interests," he said.

    Aleksandrov said that because of these circumstances, Turkey proposed
    a plan of regional integration with the participation of the three
    Caucasus states, Russia and Turkey.

    "However, it first has to normalize relations with Armenia. So as a
    first step, Turkey has agreed to lift the blockade," he said.

    On the issue of ratification, "the opposition is very strong, even
    within the ruling parties, both in Turkey and Armenia."

    The European Armenian Federation for Justice has spoken out against
    the accords, which it says do not take into account issues such as
    the Turkish genocide of Armenians, recognition of the borders between
    Armenia and Turkey, and the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.

    Turkey has demanded that that Yerevan drop its campaign to have the
    mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 internationally
    recognized as genocide.

    Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support for
    Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim, Turkic-speaking ally of Ankara,
    following a bloody conflict over Nagorny Karabakh between the two
    republics.

    The region in Azerbaijan, which has a largely Armenian population,
    has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet republics
    since the late 1980s and is de facto independent. Azerbaijan strongly
    opposes normalization of ties between Ankara and Yerevan before the
    Nagorny Karabakh conflict is resolved.

    Armenia and Turkey agreed to a "roadmap" to normalize their relations
    under Swiss mediation this April. The draft pact between the countries
    was backed by the United States and European Union.
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