YEREVAN. – Even though there is nothing new in the statement by Turkey’s FM Ahmet Davutoglu, there are diplomatic loopholes in it, Armenian capital city Yerevan State University Faculty of Oriental Studies Deputy Dean, turkologist Ruben Melkonyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.   

In his words, Turkey makes such statements since the 1990s. “Davutoglu notes that if an Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement is reached—with respect to the [Nagorno-]Karabakh question—which will be convenient for Azerbaijan—or will be signed by it—, this will be acceptable for Turkey. That is, if an agreement that is not in Azerbaijan’s interests is signed but Azerbaijan’s signature is there, Turkey, as it had pledged, will regulate the diplomatic relations with Armenia,” Melkonyan stated.     

Also, the turkologist noted that in the given situation Karabakh’s status matter is not as fundamental for Turkey as its wish to not discomfort Azerbaijan.           

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, in an interview with Sabah daily, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also commented on the future of Armenian-Turkish ties.  

To the reporter’s query as to whether any progress can be expected in these relations before 2015—that is, on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide—, Davutoglu once again linked these ties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 

“We spoke about the Karabakh issue with Russia’s FM Sergei Lavrov, who was in Istanbul recently. There are elections in Armenia, in Spring, and in Azerbaijan, in Fall 2013. There are difficulties, before the elections, in securing a progress. At that time the psychological climate likewise is not suitable in the countries. We want for Armenia and Azerbaijan to achieve results in the Karabakh question; this will enable Turkey to act,” Turkish FM A