“There seemed no way out of this debacle as Erdogan and Sargsyan were due to meet in Washington under the scrutinizing eyes of the Barack Obama administration,” reads the article by Semih Idiz on Hurriyet Daily News. The author comments on Sargsyan-Erdogan meeting in Washington this Monday, noting that the article was being written when the leaders were due to meet. According to Idiz, domestic situation in both countries is so “touchy” that if leaders find any way out of the present stalemate in the talks, they would be considered “having sold out” by local nationalists.

“The bottom line is that the 'zero-sum game' between Turks and Armenians has not been overcome yet. The basic approach continues to be that if one side gains something, the other side must loose something,” the article says.

Thus, the author deems that Turkish Premier and RA President should “find a new way to proceed with the process of normalizing ties” and in this case their Washington meeting will be considered successful. “Otherwise, there seems little prospect for a breakthrough in Turkish-Armenian ties any time,” Idiz concludes.