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An open confrontation between Russia and NATO can hardly be expected, such a scenario is unlikely, although nothing can be ruled out, political scientist Alexander Markarov said at a press conference today when discussing Russia-Turkey tensions.

In his words, the Middle East developments are not confined only to Russian-Turkish relations, but they are more large-scale. The political scientist said Turkey is one of the possible sponsors of the Islamic State terrorist group, and that assistance is not necessarily direct.

The 102nd Russian military base in Armenia is not a base to be used in a Middle East conflict, it is intended for other purposes, Markarov said.

“As regards the ongoing processes, the base is unlikely to be used as a third front in Russia-Turkey standoff. The standoff between Russia and Turkey is often described as taking place in an economic and rhetorical sense, rather than in a political one,” he noted. 

When asked what kind of threat the deterioration in Russian-Turkish relations poses to Armenia, A. Markarov said that Turkey may attempt to encourage Azerbaijan to resort to some actions. “In recent days there has been a decline in ceasefire violations on the line of contact between the armed forces of Karabakh and Azerbaijan. I doubt that violations will intensify now. Turkey declared that it will try to return the ‘occupied territories’ to Azerbaijan.  These are just statements directed at the domestic audience. In connection with the problem, I see no possibility of concrete actions in Armenia-Azerbaijan and Armenia-Turkey relations”.

On Tuesday a Russian Su-24 jet crashed in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the jet was shot down by an air-to-air missile fired from a Turkish F-16 jet over Syria and crashed in Syria 4 kilometers away from the Turkish border. V. Putin called the jet downing ‘a stab in the back’ by accomplices of terrorists.