Vladimir Socor, the analyst at Jamestown Foundation comments on U.S. role in Armenia-Turkey reconciliation, saying that separation of Karabakh conflict and Armenia-Turkey rapprochement or privileging the latter proved to be “ineffective”. “Some U.S. administration officials with experience in the region did caution that progress was achievable if the two tracks were synchronized, rather than separated.”

“Obama’s initiative could have generated positive dynamics throughout the region, with strategic gains for the United States, had it pursued the Turkish-Armenian normalization track in synchronization with the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict-resolution track,” the article reads.

According to the author, during his visit to U.S., Turkish Premier Erdogan was reminded that Protocols should be ratified “without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe.”

“The US and EU pressed for fast progress on Turkey-Armenia normalization, but failed to press for Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict-resolution in the &‘Minsk Group’ or the bilateral format,” Socor says.

According to Socor, Erdogan’s visit to Washington proves that Turkish authorities “have adjusted their course”. “It remains for Baku to diversify its outreach to Turkey beyond Kemalist, nationalist, and moderate conservative groups, so as to encompass also the increasingly influential liberal opinion-making circles,” the author concludes.

A.G.