Interview with Jeyhun Mollazade, chairman of the American-Azerbaijani Council, co-director of US Azeris Network.
Q: What can you say about the meeting between Turkish Premier Erdogan and Armenian President Sargsyan in terms of normalization of the bilateral relations?
A: It looks that the meeting did not produce any tangible result because the issues of Turkish-Armenian relations are complex and emotional...it is the recognition of "genocide" , opening of the borders in full scale and Nagorno-Karabagh problem (NK) which could not be ignored by Ankara no matter what...US Administration is pushing this agenda forward for number of reasons...including the pledge made by President Obama to the Armenian American community, the objective is also to integrate Armenia into the Western world. However, non of that is realistic without the steps and compromises that Armenian people and the leadership should undertake on NK...I doubt that Turkey can give up on NK and proceed on rapprochement with Erevan. It will hurt any Turkish government relations with Baku, but also backfire it domestically in local politics.
Q: Information about possible soonest signing of a roadmap on normalization of bilateral relations by Erdogan and Sargsyan has recently been spread in mass media. Is the signing possible?
A: Roadmap signing is possible, but doing without progress that should be also achieved on NK is very difficult for Turkish government.
Q: The Turkish premier promised to include the Karabakh problem to the agenda of his soonest talks with the US president. Will Obama listen to Erdogan’s opinion?
A: I am sure that president Obama will listen to P.M. Erdogan on NK, but Obama strongly believes that if Turkish-Armenia border opening and rapprochement is linked to NK progress then nothing is going to happen and he will be under the pressure to recognize "genocide" by Armenians which he does not want to do because of worsening of relations with turkey...Obama believes that such policy will help for NK settlement if future, but it should not be a precondition for breakthrough in Armenian-Turkish relations...
Q: Does Obama depend on the coming April 24 in the Karabakh issue and the problem of “genocide”?
A: 24th April is approaching and no doubts that President Obama is under strong pressure from Armenians as the elections to congress is this year and democrats need Armenian funds and votes in certain districts...
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