Shakaryan: Turkey may open border with Armenia and then close it again

Turkologist Artak Shakaryan views with suspicion the prospect of opening the Armenian-Turkish border by Turkey that closed it in 1993.

“Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish authorities are thinking about a nice move that would show the absence of problems with Armenians. I view with suspicion the prospect of the border opening, although today it will be easier for Turkey to open the border than to revive the Armenian-Turkish protocols,” he noted.

“Erdogan cannot today submit the protocols to the parliament to ratify as he lacks the necessary number of deputies, but it is easy to open the border because of the possibility to leave the border open for a while and then to close it again under some pretext when the 100th anniversary of the Genocide is over,” Shakaryan said.

According to him, the Armenian side should not be satisfied only with the border opening, but it should demand the establishment of diplomatic relations that will strengthen the decision about opening the border.