Appointment of Isik Kosaner to the post of a new chief of the Turkish General Staff will not affect the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and, in particular, the Karabakh peace process, Ruben Mehrabyan, the expert for the Armenian Center for Political and International Studies, told NEWS.am.

According to him, the chief of general staff is a very important post in Turkey and he will deal with more significant issues for Ankara than the Karabakh conflict. “The new appointment should be viewed in the context of ongoing domestic political processes in Turkey, the Turkish-Israeli ties, as well as Ankara-West relations within NATO,” the expert noted.

The above mentioned problems involve neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan, as relations with these countries are low in the list of Turkey’s major problems. The expert restated that appointment of pro-Azerbaijani general will not affect Turkey’s stance on Karabakh. “I do not think that Kosaner will be capable of making any changes in this direction,” Mehrabyan emphasized. He stressed that at present danger to Armenia is coming not from a Turkish general, but from Russia. “Beware of north,” he concluded.

A new chief of the Turkish General Staff is known for his pro-Azerbaijan stance and activities directed on reinforcement of the Azerbaijani armed forces. He also supported training of the Azerbaijani soldiers in Turkey.