Iravkunk daily of Armenia writes as follows, in particular: [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is not ready to normalize Armenian-Turkish relations without Baku’s full participation and to [re]open the border [with Armenia] without the consent of the Azerbaijani side, since he cannot take any steps in that direction, despite the fact that the process itself had launched at Erdogan’s call. Pakrat Estukyan, editor of the Agos Armenian newspaper published in Istanbul, makes such an observation, reflecting on Turkish-Azerbaijani relations.

Didn’t Erdogan himself declare that the Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] issue is settled, so there are no more obstacles to developing warmer relations with Armenia? And yet, the fact that Erdogan has not taken any clear steps so far eloquently testifies to the strength of Azerbaijan’s position; namely, Baku does not want the further development of relations between Turkey and Armenia. Therefore, Turkey is not ready to act in the process of developing relations with Armenia without Baku’s consent.

In my conversations with the Armenian media, I have long said that [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev is able to influence Erdogan in solving his problems. I know that the Armenian side is not entirely right: they are convinced in advance that Turkey is a stronger state, whereas Azerbaijan is not so much, so it seems to them that it is wrong that Azerbaijan imposes its will on Turkey. But in reality, that is exactly what it does, it dictates. It is difficult not to notice Aliyev’s investments, SOCAR’s huge investments in Turkey, the lobbying work that Azerbaijan is carrying out here [in Turkey]. Azerbaijan has TV channels in Turkey, it has a powerful lobbying force, and today all this will play in its favor.