The reality is that even if we talk to Azerbaijan one-on-one or face-to-face, we both see and feel Turkey's presence. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during the press conference, addressing the question of whether he sees a trend of Turkey's involvement in the process of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.
"I think that something important is happening in our relations with Turkey, which may even sound strange when I say what is important in it. We talk to each other, and I believe that we have a conversation and dialogue with the President of Turkey. That dialogue is very complicated, not easy, but it is very important to have that conversation", he said.
Prime Minister recalled how the photo of his meeting with the President of Turkey in Prague, which appeared on the Internet, caused great confusion and noise in Armenia, and that it also caused tension among Pashinyan's teammates. However, the Prime Minister does not consider such meetings "strange".
"On the contrary, it is strange that two countries that have a common border do not talk to each other. But before taking that circumstance into account, can you imagine how much effort is required to make a decision, to go and participate in the inauguration ceremony of the president in Turkey?", Pashinyan said. He added that telephone conversations of Foreign Ministers should be usual thing in the same context.
"In that conversation, we sometimes understand that at least in some episodes, it doesn't matter if it's important or not, we don't quite understand what they're saying, they don't quite understand what we're saying, and between these misunderstandings there is a negative energy that as a result of understanding, it does not mean that it will be neutralized, but that it will decrease, that is obvious. That decrease is not a fact that it will bring concrete results, but that without a decrease there will be no result, that is guaranteed," said the RA Prime Minister.
According to Pashinyan, in the Armenian reality, Turkey is often not perceived as a country that is "our opposite neighbor", but is perceived through our relations with Azerbaijan, while we should have an agenda with Turkey. Pashinyan also expressed regret that the current agenda is not being implemented at a proper speed.
"We can't deny that Turkey is also a major international actor, we must face this fact," he said.
Regarding Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, Pashinyan believes that the correct formula and formulation is that the actors should be neutral in order to play a constructive role, and that they cannot objectively be one-sided.
