Excluding Armenia from the list of principal external threats to its national security strategy, Turkey reflected reality, expert for the Armenian Center of Political and International Studies Ruben Mehrabyan told NEWS.am.  “Turkey sees Armenia does not pose threat to it,” the expert said.

Commenting on redefinition of Israel as a major threat to Turkey, Mehrabyan said this step is a mere populism and is conditioned by impending parliamentary elections in the country. 

“Turkish ruling party aims at showing Justice and Development party is a freedom fighter in the struggle against Islamists,” the expert stressed. He advised to differentiate between rhetoric and facts, even if it is a national security policy document. 

As NEWS.am reported previously, Turkish National Security Council excluded Armenia, Syria, Iran, Georgia and Russian from the main external threats to its national security document.  The document underwent significant changes, claiming Israel is now a major threat to the country. The two countries have been close allies for decades, however, the relations between the two states have recently deteriorated.