“It is praiseworthy that while in Washington Turkish prime minister focused on resolution of the Karabakh conflict and updated it in its negotiations with the U.S.,” Azerbaijani political expert Fikrat Sadigov said. He was commenting on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington.
“It is somewhat surprising that Turkish prime minister reacted to resolution of the Karabakh conflict a bit late. This issue should have been largely talked about in the period of signing of the Zurich protocols. On the other hand, Turkey’s willingness to quickly resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict helps to deepen the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations,” Sadigov said.
“Of course, the fact that Erdogan raised the issue of Karabakh in Washington points to importance of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. But this does not mean that after Erdogan’s statements the U.S. will immediately make relevant conclusions. I am hopeful that Washington will listen to the Turkish ministers’s words to some extent,” he added.
"Prior to Erdogan’s visit to Washington, Armenia had high hopes that by signing the protocols with Turkey, it will step over Azerbaijan’s interests, achieve ratification of the protocols and thus leave behind settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. But I think this visit shattered Armenia’s hopes.
“I think that Armenians have understood that even if some people in Turkey want to take this step, this is impossible. Because the regional security in general is impossible without settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Washington should first and foremost understand this as its interests are deeply connected with the South Caucasus region,” Sadigov said.
