The meeting between RA President Serzh Sargsyan and Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan in Washington did not cause any progress in the Armenian-Turkish relations, the specialist in Turkic studies Ruben Melkonyan told journalists on April 14.
“That meeting was planned to specify the sides’ positions. The Armenian side reaffirmed its position, whereas that of the Turkish side is not yet clear. The Turkish side made mutually exclusive statements for several days,” Melkonyan said. “No serious progress in the Armenian-Turkish relations was registered at the meeting, which had actually been expected. Through Turkey’s fault, the Armenian-Turkish relations now resemble beating about the bush,” he said.
According to him, the Turkish leaders have softened their tone lately, but the only reason is that April 24 is drawing near. The expert said that the Turkish side will resume its strongly worded anti-Armenian statements after April 24.
As regards the United State’s role in the Armenian-Turkish process, Melkonyan pointed out that the U.S. was interested in reanimating the process, which would enable the U.S. President not to utter the word “genocide”, and Barack Obama “has, to an extent, been afforded this opportunity.”