Armenia is a country which, to be pressured, can only be told it has political prisoners. It is a country one can impose concessions on, the former RA Foreign Minister, member of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) Alexander Arzumanyan stated at a May 18 press conference, responding to a question about the international community’s possible pressure on Armenia and Turkey to reach a breakthrough in the normalization process.

“On the one hand we deal with a dynamically developing Turkey, a country laying claims to EU membership and to playing a crucial role. On the other hand, Armenia is a small country, blockaded on two sides, with illegitimate authorities — a state of robbers with political prisoners,” he said.

Arzumanyan noted that the U.S. authorities had not spoken of political prisoners, because Armenian authorities humbly carred out their instructions. When the Armenia-Turkey process was jeopardized, the former U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza spoke of political prisoners.

According to him, Turkey killed the Armenia-Turkey normalization process and the international community will not address the issue until the next elections in Turkey. Only statements on the process will be made, and the diplomatic cliché “We welcome”, “We regret” and “We hope” will be voiced.

The ANC member also addressed the achievements and losses of the Armenian and Turkish sides. According to him, the Armenian side did not benefit anything from “soccer diplomacy.” Rather, the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey was called into question. As regards the Turkish side, it realized its 12-year-ol dream – getting involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

L.A.