Expert: Armenia-Turkey process might be slow due to Russia's stance

PanARMENIAN.Net - British journalist and writer on the Caucasus Thomas de Waal believes that the Armenian-Turkish process is moving slow, and according to him, one of the reasons for this might be Russia's position, the Armenian service of Voice of America reports.

Armenia and Turkey last December named special envoys to discuss the normalization of ties. Three rounds of talks followed on January 14, February 24 and then on May 3.

On the one hand, De Waal says, Moscow is interested in reopening transport communications in the South Caucasus, but on the other hand, it fears that the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations may call into question the necessity of a Russian military presence in Armenia.

According to the analyst, both Yerevan and Ankara are aware that the process is only about normalizing relations between the two countries and does not include the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, which, he said, can be resolved in the future.

De Waal expressed hope, however, that possible positive developments in the recent Armenian-Azerbaijani and Armenian-Turkish processes could help each other.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in mid-March that Moscow welcomes the course towards the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations,