On 20 December 2017 the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visited Nakhijevan and met with the head of state. Little was said about the visit of the Turkish prime minister. The Russian press mostly expressed concerns that Turkey may create a military base in Nakhijevan.
Some commentators view the opening of the base in Nakhijevan as Turkey’s possible answer to revision of treaties defining Turkey’s borders, including the borders with former soviet countries. These borders have been defined by the Russian-Turkish agreements. Nakhijevan is the most vulnerable point of the treaties.
Article 3 of the treaty states that the sides agree to create a sovereignty in Nakhijevan province of the Yerevan with the condition that Azerbaijan will not give it to a third country.
Armenia is not a signatory to the Treaty of Moscow but has acknowledged it as a basis for territorial division in the region all these years. Moreover, the ex-minister of foreign affairs of Artsakh Arman Melikyan says the Armenian-Turkish protocols signed in 2009 are a “reiteration by the Armenian side that Yerevan recognizes the legitimacy of the treaties of Moscow and Kars.”
“This is the reason why the Turkish side, not even having ratified these protocols, can state calmly that Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Turkey and, at least in terms of Nakhijevan, of Azerbaijan and cannot have territorial demands,” he said.
Apparently, Turkey understands the essence of the Armenian-Turkish protocols in this light, connecting them directly to the future of Nakhijevan. Note that in September Serzh Sargsyan announced in the UN that if Turkey does not ratify the protocols, we will greet the spring of 2018 without them. The same was stated by the foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan.
Was the visit of Binali Yildirim related to these statements and is Turkey likely to create a military base in Nakhijevan to “defend” it from Armenian demands? This possibility has been mentioned since long. Considerations activated in the summer of 2017...
Read full story
