By Ivan Gharibyan

Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan has once more shown the world his inconsistent rhetoric. This inconsistency, as has repeatedly been proven, dependents on the Mr. Erdogan’s whereabouts at a given moment. By the way, not only the impulsive Turkish Premier, but also all the other Turkish top-ranking officials have developed this feature.

So when in Turkey or when giving interviews to foreign media outlets, Turkish officials state the necessity for “the liberation of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories,” claiming them will never leave the “fraternal” Azerbaijani people. Moreover, the Turkish Premier, and even Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is much more careful and balanced in making statements intended for “domestic use” and Azerbaijan, have both repeatedly linked the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. Although such a link cannot be ruled out, the top-ranking representatives of the major geopolitical players, RF Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, clearly stated the inadvisability of linking the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

The Turkish leaders, however, radically change their tone in Washington or just before visiting the United States. So they do their best to “look like angels” in the eyes of their strategic partners. This time the Turkish Premier spoke of his “good and constructive” intentions toward Armenia at his meeting with journalists in Paris, France. He stressed Turkey is determined to implement the Armenian-Turkish protocols. Speaking of the future of the Zurich documents, Erdogan said: “Any deviation is out of the question unless anything unpleasant happens.” Then he burst out supplicating the international community not to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

It is unclear what the Turkish Premier meant by “anything unpleasant,” but one more attempt to show the world Turkey’s willingness to normalize relations with Armenia was actually made. Yet, Turkey has to show its willingness to improve its relations with Armenia at the Erdogan-Sargsyan meeting in Washington early next week.

T.P.