Turkey interested in normalization of relations with Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - There was time when Armenia needed badly an open border with Turkey. Now, the latter is a more interested side, professor Ruben Safrastyan, director of the institute of oriental studies at the RA national academy of sciences, said in Yerevan today.



The policy of economic pressure on Armenia is being reviewed, according to him.



"The economic factor was first of all linked to Azerbaijan and Georgia because of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Kars-Tbilisi-Baku line. Georgia proved an unreliable partner while Azerbaijan is very cautious. Presently, Ankara prefers to strengthen ties with Russia and Armenia, as the RF strategic partner in the region," prof. Safrastyan said.



"Given the transformed geopolitical balances in the region, Armenian diplomacy faces new challenges," he added.



Ankara closed the border and severed relations with Armenia to support Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in 1993.