As Long As There is a Process for Normalizing Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani Relations, Washington Will Remain Active: Sargsyan

The U.S. political stance in the region remains unchanged regarding the comprehensive normalization of Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. This was stated by political scientist Suren Sargsyan on his Facebook page, reflecting on the visit of William Burns, the head of the CIA.

“Regarding William Burns' visit, the U.S. political course in the region remains unchanged with respect to the comprehensive normalization of Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. In this regard, the CIA's partner is not the National Security Service (NSS), but rather the Secretary of the Security Council, as one line of ‘reconciliation’ with Azerbaijan is being led by Grigoryan in negotiations with Hajiev (I believe that’s why the NSS claimed they were not aware of the visit. They were naturally informed, but they were not the direct addressees). I am confident that the agenda of the visit is American. We do not have an agenda.

In our region, the Agency's main targets are Iran and Russia. However, during this period, the focus is on removing Russia and Moscow from the South Caucasus (which is why it seems everything is quiet in Iran). It is believed that the Russian military presence in Armenia and Artsakh hinders the final normalization of Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations (by the way, this may also explain why information about the visit was leaked through Russian media).

From this perspective, it is also important to understand where Burns came from to Yerevan and where he headed after leaving Yerevan. For the CIA, the most important countries in our region are Georgia and Azerbaijan. By the way, the former director of the CIA, Haspel, once headed the CIA station located in Azerbaijan.

Let me reiterate: as long as there is a process for normalizing Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, Washington will remain active. Take Key West and football diplomacy as examples.

P.S. This is not the first meeting of the CIA director with the Armenian leadership. Back in 1994, the President of Armenia hosted the CIA director at his residence. At that time, the CIA leadership had approached us for assistance regarding a very specific issue in the Middle East,” he wrote.