Representatives of both governmental and opposition camps, as well as experts, are of the opinion that it is yet early to speak of the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process as a failure.

Talking to NEWS.am Secretary of the Prosperous Armenia parliamentary faction Armen Safaryan said that the Armenia-Turkey reconciliation process is going on. “I do not rule out it may be protracted, as almost all the influential nations are interested in the Armenian-Turkish relations being normalized and they will never allow the process to fail,” Safaryan said. He does not rule out that Turkey may step up its activities on the occasion of the next anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to prevent the fact from being recognized by a number of other states, particularly, the U.S.

Head of the Heritage faction Stepan Safaryan is sure that the Armenian-Turkish protocols will be ratified before the end of this year. He stressed that the international community is pressuring the sides. Being a stronger nation, Turkey does not yield to it as much as Armenia does. “So the international community places its hopes on Armenia. They think that Turkey will have to take reciprocal steps if Armenia takes all the steps it can,” S. Safaryan said.

Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies Ruben Safrastyan stated that no prerequisites for a failure of the Armenian-Turkish dialogue exist. “Turkey is trying to gain time to think over its steps,” he said. The experts does not rule out that Armenia may take reciprocal steps, as official Yerevan has already done all in its power to normalize relations with Ankara. Safrastyan also thinks that, on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey may cash in on the Armenian-Turkish protocols to derail the process of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

T.P.