Speaking of Armenian President’s speech at the Chatham House British Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House expert, professorial Fellow in International Relations at Oxford University S. Neil MacFarlane said that the speech itself will not influence the Armenian-Turkish negotiations.
According MacFarlane, Sargsyan’s speech will not have any effect on the negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well.
“The tone of the speech was somewhat surprising for me, but, regarding Karabakh, both sides have accompanied efforts to find a solution with strong statements of their interests and preferences. Both presidents have a difficult time balancing the need to negotiate against the expectations of domestic constituencies, many of whom resist compromise,” MacFarlane said.
“Regarding Turkey, again I don’t think this speech changes much. We all knew ratification would be hard. Normalization without conditions would be difficult for Turkey. Conditions concerning Karabakh would be difficult for Armenia. And neither side appears willing to accept significant domestic political risk on the issue of normalization. This speech doesn’t change that,” he pointed out.
Today.Az
