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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s pro-Azerbaijani statements are not new, with Turkey voicing support to Azerbaijan on numerous occasions for years and trying to force its way into the structure of the OSCE Minsk Group, which was however doomed to failure, an Armenian turkologist told a news conference on Monday.

Ruben Safrastyan, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, gave his strong assurances Turkey’s attempts to become part of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks will also fail this time.

According to the expert, the Karabakh negotiation process is stalled since Azerbaijan is always taking imitation actions and hampering the conflict settlement process. Mr. Safrastyan stated the Turkish diplomacy has tried and will continue to try to enter a trade, with the settlement of the Artsakh issue put on the table.

Commenting on the Turkish-Azerbaijani joint military drills held regularly in Nakhijevan, Ruben Safrastyan underscored through those steps Azerbaijan and Turkey are looking for ways to further strengthen their presence in that area.

“This poses a potential threat to us. Armenia must strengthen its defense capacities. Turkey is ready to take all the possible measures to tighten its grip. The international community needs to take special efforts towards curbing the militarization of Turkey and Azerbaijan in Nakhijevan,” the turkologist concluded.