YEREVAN. – The rumors spread in the Turkish mass media on Turkey’s aspiration to give new impetus to normalization with Armenia and opening of Turkish Airlines office in Yerevan are PR-action by Turkish Foreign Ministry, Director of Oriental Studies Institute of Armenian National Academy of Sciences, expert in Turkic studies Ruben Safrastyan told Armenia News-NEWS.am.

He advised to consider these statements in the context of Ankara’s desire to throw dust in the eyes of the international community, following U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Ankara, who once again highlighted the need for Armenia-Turkey rapprochement at her meetings with the Turkish leadership. “First, Turkey is unlikely to open an office of Turkish Airlines in Armenia or to establish air links between Van and Yerevan. Even if it happens, such steps are unlikely to contribute to the global normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, as Ankara has no real desire to reconcile relations with Yerevan,” the expert noted, adding today Turkey has a greater interest in Iran, Syria and Israel.

According to publications in Turkish media, Turkey is planning to introduce a new set of confidence-building measures in an effort to normalize relations with neighboring Armenia. In particular, the Turkish side decided to send positive signals to the Armenian side. Turkey plans to open the office of Turkish Airlines in Armenia’s capital and establish Van-Yerevan air links.