Davutoglu in Yerevan: miracle did not happen

The meeting between the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, and his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, was expected to become the main event of the Summit of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. The Turkish media reported that the Turkish Minister had urged to stimulate bilateral dialogue as well as writing about rumours that Davutoglu was going to offer to open the Armenian-Turkish border in exchange for opening the borders of two Azerbaijani regions occupied by Armenia.The meeting between Davutoglu and Nalbandian was held behind closed doors, and after the meeting both politicians declined to make any comments. Later, the Turkish minister denied rules of the intended deal on the border opening. The Armenian side in its statements seemed to refer to the same "roadmap" aimed at restoring the Armenian-Turkish relations. Armenian and Turkish experts comment on Davutoglu's visit to Yerevan to Vestnik Kavkaza."Today, Turkey is not ready for revolutionary actions," the deputy director of the Caucasus Institute, Sergey Minasyan, said. Specialist on Turkey Andranik Ispiryan expressed an opinion that perhaps Turkey's visit to Yerevan was an attempt to counterbalance Putin's recent statements on the strengthening of Russian influence in the South Caucasus.In his turn, a journalist and political scientist, an expert on Russia and the CIS Dzhenk Bashlamyshly, noted that such meetings are very useful for discussing stalling issues. "There have been no official contacts between Turkey and Armenia for four years now. Of course, one cannot expect concrete results from the first meeting. The position of both sides is clear. Armenia does not want to return the occupied territories to Azerbaijan, which negates all attempts at conflict resolution, while Turkey does not benefit from this situation, from this status quo which, in fact, explains its current activity," Bashlamyshly said.Associate Professor of the School of International Relations at the University of Economics and Technology TOBB (Ankara), Togrul Ismail, pointed out that the visit of Davutoglu was important to Turkey. The expert said that Turkish-Armenian meetings are necessary. However, he doubted any real progress on the issue will be achieved as long as Armenia does not decide for itself whether it wants peace in the region. "After all, what has Armenia done so that Turkey would open its borders? It is a very delicate question and a lot depends on Armenia in this regard, on its desire to achieve peace in the region," Ismail said.

The meeting between the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, and his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, was expected to become the main event of the Summit of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. The Turkish media reported that the Turkish Minister had urged to stimulate bilateral dialogue as well as writing about rumours that Davutoglu was going to offer to open the Armenian-Turkish border in exchange for opening the borders of two Azerbaijani regions occupied by Armenia.
The meeting between Davutoglu and Nalbandian was held behind closed doors, and after the meeting both politicians declined to make any comments. Later, the Turkish minister denied rules of the intended deal on the border opening. The Armenian side in its statements seemed to refer to the same "roadmap" aimed at restoring the Armenian-Turkish relations. 
Armenian and Turkish experts comment on Davutoglu's visit to Yerevan to Vestnik Kavkaza.
"Today, Turkey is not ready for revolutionary actions," the deputy director of the Caucasus Institute, Sergey Minasyan, said. Specialist on Turkey Andranik Ispiryan expressed an opinion that perhaps Turkey's visit to Yerevan was an attempt to counterbalance Putin's recent statements on the strengthening of Russian influence in the South Caucasus.
In his turn, a journalist and political scientist, an expert on Russia and the CIS Dzhenk Bashlamyshly, noted that such meetings are very useful for discussing stalling issues. "There have been no official contacts between Turkey and Armenia for four years now. Of course, one cannot expect concrete results from the first meeting. The position of both sides is clear. Armenia does not want to return the occupied territories to Azerbaijan, which negates all attempts at conflict resolution, while Turkey does not benefit from this situation, from this status quo which, in fact, explains its current activity," Bashlamyshly said.
Associate Professor of the School of International Relations at the University of Economics and Technology TOBB (Ankara), Togrul Ismail, pointed out that the visit of Davutoglu was important to Turkey. The expert said that Turkish-Armenian meetings are necessary. However, he doubted any real progress on the issue will be achieved as long as Armenia does not decide for itself whether it wants peace in the region. "After all, what has Armenia done so that Turkey would open its borders? It is a very delicate question and a lot depends on Armenia in this regard, on its desire to achieve peace in the region," Ismail said.