Epress.am News from Armenia
Turkey’s military base in Nakhchivan doesn’t stem from Turkey’s interests, said Amanda Paul, an analyst with the independent think tank European Policy Centre, in an interview with 1news.az.
According to Paul, Turkey, as a NATO member, can’t make such a decision without consulting its North Atlantic Treaty colleagues, since Turkey’s presence in Azerbaijan is the same as NATO’s presence in Azerbaijan.
Paul also spoke about the importance of the US position: “In the case of the presence of such military forces, Turkey can’t remain distant [indifferent] if military actions begin between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
“This means that if one Turkish soldier is killed, Ankara can lean on Article 5 of the NATO agreement. And this, in a worse case scenario, will mean that NATO and Russia can find themselves on opposite sides, with all the possible grave consequences,” she said.
Paul also said that Turkey’s doesn’t want to endanger its relations with Russia, but the Nakhchivan army base can be seen as a response to the Russia-Armenia agreement to extend Russia’s military presence in Armenia.
“If we consider that Turkey has wasted a lot of time on improving its relations with Moscow, then I don’t see any reason why Ankara shouldn’t take such a step,” she said.