The US Must First Force Turkey to Respect International Conventions, Says Manaseryan

The head of the "Alternative" research center, Doctor of Economics, and Professor Tatul Manaseryan discussed the issue of opening regional communications and the interests of various international players and Armenia in an interview with Sputnik Armenia.

Before expecting the unblocking of communications from Armenia, the US must first compel Turkey to respect international conventions and provide landlocked Armenia with free access to the Black Sea, Manaseryan stated in an interview with Sputnik Armenia while commenting on recent statements from various US officials regarding the topic.

It was noted that Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien did not hide that the main purpose of his visit to Baku at the end of June was to seek support from Baku for the transport corridor bypassing Russia. According to him, peace in the region would allow cheaper goods from Central Asia to be delivered to global markets via Azerbaijan, and then through Georgia and Armenia.

“I would like American diplomats and state officials to definitely have this in their arsenal. I know that US relations with Turkey are not very smooth, so they should be able to cite these international documents in this matter,” Manaseryan said.

Moreover, the American official did not clarify the expected status of the route from the US side. Instead, Iranian authorities have repeatedly stated that any communication passing through Syunik must be under the sovereign control of Armenia, and that Iran will not accept any changes to the border.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan and Turkey continue to insist on their idea of a "Zangezur corridor," contrary to the interests of Armenia and Iran.

“I have had the opportunity both in the US and in Europe to reprimand Western officials at quite high-level forums not to give in to temptation and not to use the expression 'Zangezur corridor.' In general, a corridor is a humanitarian term, but there is no humanitarian issue here; purely commercial and private interests are being pursued. And if democratic countries join this pressure, I begin to suspect what hidden motives and agendas they have,” Manaseryan noted.

Regarding Armenia, in Manaseryan's opinion, the agenda set by the Armenian authorities of the "Peace Intersection" is a very good card for our country to present and promote its own version and interests for the unblocking of communications to interested parties. The issue is that the government is not taking any practical steps in this direction, merely observing which countries will decide what on our behalf.