Armenia cannot be part of Turkic world if it has Artsakh – Beniamin Matevosyan

Armenia cannot be part of the Turkic world if it has the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, if it has Artsakh, Armenian political scientist Beniamin Matevosyan said during a discussion titled “The New World Order and Armenia’s Geopolitical Choice” at the Eurasia-Armenia expert platform.

“Armenia is essentially being called the ‘missing element’ in the OTS. If we look at the recent events taking place in Armenia since at least 2018, the logic becomes clear. If Armenia is seen as part of the Turkic world, Armenia cannot become such—it cannot even make a claim to be part of that world, however sacrilegious this may sound—so long as it has the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, so long as it has Artsakh. Artsakh is the minimum price that Armenia had to pay on the path toward becoming part of the Turkic world, and that is in fact what happened,” he said.

Speaking about subsequent developments unfolding in the Republic of Armenia, Matevosyan noted that for many years a number of politicians, experts, and state officials in Armenia warned that the country globally faces the following geopolitical dilemma: either Russia (integration and cooperation), or Turkey.

“All of this is being done so that Armenia simply has no alternative to Turkey and the Turkish market, energy resources. This is the geopolitical choice of Armenia’s authorities. Armenia is being deliberately led into the Turkic world without security guarantees,” he added.