Turkey wants to prove that it allegedly has friendly relations with neighbors, excluding Armenia from a list of countries posing threat, Turkish studies expert Ruben Melkonyan told NEWS.am.

“In fact Armenia cannot be considered as an external threat to Turkey. However, Turkey’s actions pursue far-reaching goal to drive a wedge between Armenia and Diaspora. This step may be followed by a statement indicating that Diaspora, not Armenia, is posing threat from the viewpoint of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” the expert said.

As to the fact that Israel is considered a threat by Turkey, Melkonyan noted that doing so Ankara wants to strengthen its position in Muslim world and show that Turkey’s actions against Israel are intentional but not just demonstrative.

As NEWS.am reported earlier, Turkish National Security Council excluded Armenia, along with Syria, Bulgaria Iran and Georgia from the list of countries posing external threat. The council adopted national security strategy for 5 years. Ankara termed Israel’s actions as threat for the first time since 1949.