“Armenians had to choose between bad and worse”
"Turkey will continue to speak about Armenian-Turkish relations at international meetings and stick to its anti-Armenian rhetoric on the domestic level," says Turkologist Ruben Melkonyan.
Speaking about the parliamentary elections in Turkey, Melkonyan said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which took the majority of votes in the Sunday poll, built its program on ambitious ideas. Moreover, speaking about the relations with the neighboring countries, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan continually says they have "zero problems with neighbors."
It is noteworthy that Armenians in Turkey mainly voted for Islam-influenced Justice and Development Party (AKP) which is led by Erdogan.
"Islamists managed to gain the confidence of ethnic minorities, by solving their problems and returning their estates," said the Turkologist.
Armenia's choice is comprehensible against the background of the Turkish political domain where people had to choose between AKP, "Grey Wolves" (youth organization of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Kemalist Republican People's Party (CHP).
"For many years AKP's main opponent CHP pursued a discriminatory policy against Armenians. Thus, Armenians had to choose between bad and worse," he concluded.
