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YEREVAN, JULY 18, ARMENPRESS. Due to the internal political situation in Turkey, it has lost its positions in the region as a superpower, which will have positive impact for Armenia in the Armenia-Iran relations, “Armenpress” reports, expert on Turkish studies Anush Hovhannisyan and expert on Regional Affairs and Iranian studies Vardan Voskanyan spoke about the military coup attempt in Turkey and its possible regional consequences.
Anush Hovhannisyan said initially there were views that this is a military coup attempt and the major initiators of it are the military officials from the middle class. However, the further developments showed that it was early to describe this as “a coup of colonels”. Due to the media it became clear that high-ranking military officials have been involved in the coup and the generals constitute majority among the detainees. She said there are numerous reasons within the Turkish military to initiate the coup.
“The Turkish high-ranking officials’ complaint towards Erdogan existed for a long time. The “cleansing” process, which Erdogan and his supporters initiated after coming to power, created dissatisfaction. The military which lost its monopoly position, expressed its complaint over limiting their opportunities. There are also versions that Erdogan has limited their financial capabilities. An annual supreme military council was expected to be held in August during which new appointments are taking place, and they had information that Erdogan is going to dismiss a number of military officials from their posts. This was also a reason for rebellion”, Anush Hovhannisyan said.
She said the real picture of this will be clear later. She said we do not know what in reality this coup presented since the news is mainly being released by the Turkish state apparatus.
In his turn Vardan Voskanyan said Turkey is no longer the same as it was. After the Turkish developments it is obvious that from 2 states (Turkey and Iran) who had superpower ambitions in the Middle Eastern region, Iran, in fact, remains the only country in the region. Iran is a state which clearly manages to maintain its internal political stability.
Vardan Voskanyan said Turkey as a state which poses a threat for its neighboring countries, once again proved this.
“No one can rule out that such incidents will not be repeated and any crazy general will not order that jets to cross the borders of the neighboring states. From this perspective, Turkey lost its ambitious position in the region as a super power. The Turkish society is almost equally divided into two parts. Although Erdogan supported his leadership, however, these problems were not resolved, quite the contrary, they will further escalate. In this context I think that despite the Turkish demands to US to return Gulen, Turkey understands that talking with US in that way will have serious consequences. After these events Turkey will try to maneuver between the East and the West. I think here also there will be wrong calculations and Erdogan will face problems”, he said.
According to Vardan Voskanyan this will positively affect Armenia. Armenia, in fact, remains an important country for Iran in terms of projects connecting the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea. “One of our rivals has seriously lost its position, and this will contribute to making our country more attractive for the Iranian people”, Voskanyan said.