The Armenian authorities made a single hasty step in “football diplomacy” with Turkey, and the process got out of control, Andranik Tevanyan, Director of the Political Economy Center, told NEWS.am.

According to him, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan made the first hasty step when he invited his Turkish counterpart to a football match in Yerevan. “At that moment Sargsyan did not think of further developments – he just invited the Turkish President to Armenia. At that very moment the Armenia-Turkey rapprochements process got out of Yerevan’s control. Now, in the morning the Armenian authorities will know about what was prepared for them to sign in the night,” Tevanyan said. According to him, the reason for the President’s “very first hasty step” was his seeking to “clearly outline” his policy as distinguished from that of his predecessors. “It is typical of all the politicians having a legitimacy problem,” Tevanyan said.

He stressed that the processes are getting more and more dangerous for Armenia in the course of time. The international community and Turkey are aware of the fact that Yerevan has lost control of the situation. So they are trying to find a “package solution” to all the problems – it is the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. “The Nagorno-Karabakh problem is being dealt with along with the issue of Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, and the Turkish side’s repeated statements are striking evidence thereof,” Tevenyan said. He added that, if continued, this process may result in the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh: concession on even one of the regions under Nagorno-Karabakh’s control means the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh.