Sincerely wishing to normalize relations with Armenia, Turkey, however, can’t move forward unless progress in registered in the Karabakh process, a Turkish professor said.

“Progress implies withdrawal of Armenian troops from certain territories around Nagorno Karabakh,” Behlul Ozkan, associate professor at Bogazici University in Istanbul, told a news conference in Yerevan.

“Turkey believes that regional peace may be achieved through package settlement of all problems, including the Karabakh conflict,” he said, adding that “Ankara is disappointed with Moscow’s inactivity in Turkish-Armenian dialogue.”

According to prof. Ozkan, Russia is interested in normalization between Yerevan and Ankara relations but doesn’t wish Armenian-Azerbaijani reconciliation, which can damage Moscow’s positions in the South Caucasus.

As to the upcoming liturgy in Holy Cross Church, he said Turkish authorities aim to kill two birds with one stone: to draw Armenian and Turkish people closer and solve socioeconomic problems of the eastern provinces of the country.