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There is a misunderstanding in the information field, in particular reports of Russian mass media concerning the program of Turkey’s 64th government, Turkologist Levon Hovsepyan told Panorama.am when commenting on some media outlets’ reports about Turkey’s intention to escalate the regional situation.

It should be noted that the 64th government’s program presented by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses – in addition to the main priorities –  the policy of Ankara in the South Caucasus where efforts will be made to settle the regional conflicts by peaceful means. It is noted in the document that Turkey will support Azerbaijan’s stance on the Nagorno Karabakh problem and intends to help reduce tensions in relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. “In the near future we will continue steps aimed at normalizing relations with Armenia,” the government program of Turkey says noting that Ankara expects from Yerevan “a readiness for various steps on establishment of cooperation”, including  cooperation on historical problems. “The establishment of peace, stability and wellbeing in the Caucasus is possible only in this way,” the program says.

In this connection Levon Hovsepyan said that first of all, some confusion is obvious: the government program of Turkey is presented as a statement of Prime Minister Davutoglu.

“It is not a statement of Davutoglu, but formulations from the foreign policy section of the government program of the new 64th Turkish cabinet. It is a protocol process. What is being reported in the press regarding the South Caucasus issues and the Karabakh conflict is a small part of the section on Turkey’s foreign policy agenda,” Hovsepyan explained.

He said there is nothing new in the foreign policy section of the new government program. “There is nothing extraordinary here. In the 64th program of the Turkish government, the emphasis related to the Karabakh conflict and the relations with Armenia is the same as in the provisions of the previous cabinet’s program,” the expert on Turkey noted.

“In case of studying the history carefully, one can see that even the 61st government program of Turkey included the same emphases that are placed now, in other words, nothing has changed. There is nothing unusual here, and it is no use making a sensation out of that. The same emphases were constantly voiced by Turkey in recent years on various occasions and at different levels,” Hovsepyan said.

According to him, amid Russia-Turkey tensions, an attempt is being made in information and expert fields to present the Turkish government program as something out of common and link it to the latest geopolitical developments.

“The escalation in Russian-Turkish relations has nothing to do with the current program of the Turkish government. Such a tendency is especially noticeable in the Russian media. Even in Armenia’s information field there is an attempt to portray that document as a new statement of the Turkish premier amid tense relations with Russia,” the Turkologist said.

Speaking about criticism voiced over “the absence of Armenian Foreign Ministry’s reaction to the statement of the Turkish premier”, L. Hovsepyan said there is no need for this.

“We have repeatedly heard such statements from Turkey in the past few years. I don’t believe that Armenian Foreign Ministry should have reacted this time. In any case, there is obviously speculation in the information field regarding that document,” the expert stressed.