“Fact” daily writes. “A year after the Artsakh war, the issue of unblocking transport routes in the South Caucasus is being actively discussed at the regional level.
Accordingly, Turkey is actively pushing forward its proposal to create a 6-way platform for 3 + 3 cooperation in the South Caucasus. However, it should be noted that the problem is not so much the level of cooperation, but the conditions under which the unblocking of the transport routes in the South Caucasus will take place, and what legal field will be created in that connection. Naturally, Turkey has its vision from this point of view; it tries to make the situation of the final things very favorable for it, as a result of which it will be able to spread its influence on Armenia, besides Azerbaijan and Georgia, and the whole South Caucasus will become dependent on Turkey.
It is interesting that Russia and Iran are in favor of the idea of creating a 3 + 3 format of regional cooperation, but they imagine it in a way that suits them, which to some extent implies suppressing Turkey’s appetite. Therefore, in the current situation, the most important issue for Armenia is that Russia and Iran will oppose Turkey’s goals related to Armenia with a hard line. And when initiating steps in this direction, one should take into account the fact that significant tendencies of recent tension have been observed in Russian-Turkish relations.
These days, Turkey has accumulated a large military contingent in Syria and is going to launch a large-scale operation on Kurdish positions in the northern regions of Syria. Naturally, in case of success, Turkey will not be satisfied with the northern regions of Syria, it will try to establish Turkish influence in the whole country. Let’s take into account that Turkey’s long-term plans include the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. And Russia supports Assad, trying to restore his power over the entire territory of Syria, as a result of which Russian influence will increase. It turns out that Turkish aspirations in Syria are not in Moscow’s interests, at some point the Russian-Turkish conflict, including through a mediated egg, becomes inevitable. However, the gaps in Russian-Turkish relations do not end there. Ankara has repeatedly stated that it does not recognize the unification of Crimea with Russia and is consistently arming Ukraine to restore its territorial integrity.
Therefore, it is not accidental that the Ukrainians have recently started using Turkish “Bayraktar” ATS in Donbas and in the near future they are going to build a factory for the construction of Turkish ATS in Ukraine. Naturally, Russia reacts very painfully to Turkey’s activation in the direction of Ukraine. It is also interesting that after the suspension of the supply program of American F-35 fighters, Turkey is trying to buy 40 new F-16 fighters from the United States. In order to get the consent of Washington, Ankara is trying to justify the purchase of fighter jets on the fact that their acquisition is conditioned by the need to restrain Russia. It turns out that, despite the cooperation in some areas, strategically, Turkey and Russia remain serious regional rivals.
How much Turkey will be able to strengthen and strengthen its position depends on the situation around Armenia. Against this background, it is not accidental that Erdogan personally hurried to participate in the opening of “Fizuli” airport in Varanda, occupied by Azerbaijan from Artsakh. This was a special gesture to Russia, which has considered the South Caucasus as its sphere of influence for decades. Therefore, in the current conditions, Armenia’s priority is to deepen and expand relations with Russia, to acquire new, modern weapons as a result of military-technical cooperation, which will allow thwarting Turkey’s unrestrained ambitions.
It should be taken into account that the recent aggravation of relations between Tehran and Baku at the public level և Tehran’s harsh response is directed against Turkey with its sharp end, as Ankara is plotting to cut off Iran’s northern route through Armenia and destroy Iran under Pan-Turkish plans. This circumstance should also be used so that in case of launching a new level of regional cooperation, Iran will support Armenia, and the Armenian-Iranian relations will continue to develop. But, surprisingly, Nikol Pashinyan, instead of dealing with these issues, discusses with Ali, secretly from the public, the proposal to create a 6-sided platform. “And if Turkish President Erdogan had not announced this, we would not have known that such secret contacts are taking place with Ali.” More details in today’s issue of the newspaper. Details: https://shabat.am/en/article/267867/Incho-v-e-paymanavorvats-Hayastani-het
Koko says
Russia made a major strategic mistake by letting Turkey and its pan-Turkist plans deeper into the Caucasus last. year.
Russia betrayed not only Armenia but also Iran.
Russia has gained nothing and lost quite a bit.
Putin thinks he is fooling Erdogan and Aliyev, but it is they who are fooling Putin.