YEREVAN. – Establishment of authoritarian leadership in Turkey is accompanied by restrictions of democratic values and human rights, Armenian analyst Ruben Safrastyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am commenting on the recent changes in internal regulations of the Turkish parliament banning terms “Armenian Genocide” and “Kurdistan”.

The amendments were supported by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), while the opposition voted against. The amendments suggest imposing fines on lawmakers who will insult “the history of the Turkish nation”.

Ruben Safrastyan, director of Institute of Orientology, said that during the referendum Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) supported Erdogan’s Justice and Development which proves that Erdogan’s position on minority issues and Armenian Genocide will become more intolerant.

“The recent developments are continuation of this process. On the other hand, developments in Turkey show that Erdogan is strengthening his role as an authoritarian leader,” Safrastyan said.

The analyst spoke about negative attitude towards Turkey from the West, adding that Turkish-German relations had never been that tense.

“Germany is harshly criticizing the policy pursued by Erdogan. Establishment of authoritarian leadership in Turkey is accompanied by restrictions of democratic values and human rights. These are the core values of the European Union. Turkey is gradually showing they do not comply with the requirements of EU. Once EU will decide to suspend Turkey’s membership to the European Union,” the analyst added.

As to the recent regulations adopted by the parliament, the analyst described them as “predictable” measures to restrict freedom of speech in Turkey’s parliament.

“The initiatives of Garo Paylan, his criticism of Turkey for not recognizing the Armenian Genocide, will become impossible in this environment,” he added.