‘Ideological occupation of Armenian territories': Turkologist on Erdogan’s planned trip to Karabakh

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s scheduled trip to Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh’s (Artsakh) historical fortress town currently controlled by Azerbaijan, marks the beginning of a very dangerous process that can be conventionally referred to as an ideological occupation of Armenian regions, according to Ruben Melkonyan, the dean of Yerevan State University’s Oriental Studies Department.

The expert, who is now running for parliament as a member of Armenia Alliance, the pre-electoral bloc led by second President Robert Kocharyan, says the visit symbolizes, first of all, the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem, as well as the “product of their aggression” (given that Azerbaijan managed, with the help of Turkey, to occupy a large part of Artsakh after last year’s 44-day fighting). “That signifies the victory of the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem under the predominance of Turkey,” he told Tert.am on Monday.

Erdogan is scheduled to be in Azerbaijan between June 14-16. Earlier, Zia Selcuk, Turkey’s minister of education, had visited Baku to meet with President Ilham Aliyev (who briefed him on plans for laying the foundations of a new, Turkish-funded secondary school in Shushi in a ceremony to be held in the course of Erdogan’s upcoming visit).

Melkonyan said he doesn’t think that the idea to visit Shushi is an absolutely random choice – given that the town had been earlier proclaimed as the “the capital of the Turkish world” (a pan-Turkist geopolitical entity where Erdogan aspires for leadership).

“Apart from the symbolic provisions, Erdogan’s visit implies also other political and economic components. Turkey, naturally, will not restrict itself with symbolic achievements, as it has expectations in terms of ensuring and deepening its more serious economic, political and military presence in Azerbaijan. I believe Erdogan’s visit will be a certain stimulus to that effect,” he said, highlighting Ankara’s expectations for economic concessions and monopolistic predominance.

Addressing the planned opening of a Turkish-funded school in Shushi, Melkonyan emphasized especially its ideological significance. “The occupation of Armenian territories implies also their Turkification in a way. The planned ceremony of laying the foundations of the school during that visit suggests that those territories will turn into Turkic nationalistic centres and hubs, potentially posing a threat to not only Armenia but also the entire region in the long run. Erdogan’s trip to Shushi marks the start of the ideological occupation of those territories, and the process will be ongoing,” he said.

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