Forecast: By improving its economy, Armenia will have more  flexibility in foreign policy to normalize relations with Turkey

ArmInfo.By establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey and opening the borders for Turkish capital, the Armenian leadership will first of all improve the  economy. And on the example of Georgia, I do not at all think that  all this can threaten Armenia with Turkish expansion.  Professor of  the Georgian Technical University, Doctor of International Relations,  conflictologist Amiran Khevtsuriani, expressed a similar opinion to  ArmInfo

"Such a step will also give Armenia's foreign policy more  flexibility. In particular, allowing the country to get rid of  one-sided dependence on Moscow. In this light, I believe that the  normalization of relations with Turkey is vital for Armenia. I  understand the historical pain of the Armenian people, it is  difficult to heal "However, Armenia must comprehend the realities. It  is wrong to constantly appeal to the past and build the country's  future on it," he said.

According to Khevtsuriani, today Turkey is a powerful regional player  whose interests must be taken into account. This is what the first  president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, once said, whose rule and  pragmatism were sacrificed to the revisionist policy. As an example,  he cited the successfully developing cooperation between Georgia and  Turkey in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian  sectors.

According to the Georgian expert, this cooperation is of a strategic  nature. There is a free trade regime between the two countries. The  Turkish private sector is one of the largest investors in the  Georgian economy. At the same time, there is a simplified border  regime for citizens of both countries.

At the same time, Khevtsurian touched upon the question of whether  Turkish investments are a means of political influence and a threat  to Georgia's sovereignty, especially given the historical context  that for a long time linked the two countries and was largely of an  expansionist nature. At the same time, he believes that by choosing a  purely pragmatic policy based on mutual respect with Turkey after the  collapse of the USSR, Georgia only won. Especially considering that  it was initially clear that relations with Russia would be difficult.  In light of this, spoiling relations with Turkey's southern neighbor  would be disastrous for young independent Georgia.

"Reports with speculation about Turkey's evil intentions are  periodically spread around Georgia and in Georgia. They are clearly  propagandistic in nature. Particular emphasis is placed on the  allegedly expected Turkish expansion of Adjara. And last year, on the  100th anniversary of the Treaty of Kars, this entire campaign  campaign has become hysterical. Of course, the movement of Turkish  capital is especially noticeable in Adjara, but in this situation it  seems inappropriate to talk about the annexation of Adjara,  especially given the lack of the necessary ethno-cultural base for  this in Adjara," he noted.

According to Khevtsuriani, in contrast to economic influence,  Turkey's cultural influence on Adjara, as well as on Georgia as a  whole, is insignificant. Adjarians are the same Georgians as Svans,  Mingrelians, Kakhetians, Gurians, Imeretians and others. Moreover,  unlike the Svans and Mingrelians, their native language is only  Georgian. And the fact that part of the Adjarians profess Islam, in  his opinion, does not at all reduce the significance of the factor of  their ethnicity.