Samvel Karapetyan: Armenia has no fundamental problems with Turkey -  Ankara itself closed border

ArmInfo. Armenia is not setting any conditions for normalizing relations with its Turkish neighbor, as it has no fundamental problems with Turkey, which itself closed the border in the early 1990s. This was stated by Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the Strong Armenia party, in an interview with the German  newspaper Berliner Zeitung, when asked what conditions must be met to normalize relations with Turkey.

As Karapetyan recalled, Artsakh has long been the main contentious  issue between the countries, and now it is the issue of recognition  of the Armenian Genocide. The party leader noted that the Armenian  Genocide in the Ottoman Empire has been recognized by approximately  40 countries, including the United States, France, and Russia. "Why  should we give up on this?" Karapetyan asked.

Speaking about negotiations with Azerbaijan, the party leader  recalled the red lines, which, he said, are fundamental. According to  Karapetyan, these are the resettlement of Azerbaijanis in Armenia at  Baku's demand, which would alter the demographic balance and lead to  the disappearance of an Armenian Armenia. "Secondly, these are the  Armenian territories occupied by Azerbaijan and demands to amend the  country's constitution, or, in other words, to legalize the  consequences of the war, the loss of Artsakh and key elements of  national self-determination," the Strong Armenia party leader added.

Karapetyan is confident that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  is implementing Azerbaijan's instructions in the republic. Today, in  his opinion, the main problem is that the current Armenian government  has failed in literally everything - including security and the  economy. 

"Pashinyan has divided the people. He has completely destroyed the  economy. He has accomplished nothing in eight years. Pashinyan only  takes out loans and spends money. During this time, not a single  serious enterprise has been created in Armenia. For five years now,  we have been living in complete uncertainty. Azerbaijani President  Ilham Aliyev dictates everything. Every day, we wait for his words  and what new demands Baku will have to fulfill for the Armenian  government. However, the people understand everything, especially the  youth. Young people no longer accept what is happening, and I think  this will be the deciding factor in the parliamentary elections,"  Karapetyan concluded. As a reminder, parliamentary elections in  Armenia are scheduled for June 7, 2026. Eighteen political forces -  two blocs and 16 parties - are participating in the elections. A  total of 2,485,232 citizens are eligible to vote.