Your trusted source

Turkey claims to become the second country in the (Caucasus) region after Armenia, which can be visited by Russian citizens on their internal passports. The decision on allowing Russian citizens to arrive in Armenia on their internal passports entered into force on 23 February of this year.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced on March 27 about the intention of the relaunch of talks with Russia on the above-mentioned topic.

“Russia and Turkey have close interactions in the tourism sphere and previously various measures were taken to create attractive offers and situation for the citizens of the two countries in that sector,” Turkologist Ruben Melkonyan commented on the statement of the Turkish official in an interview with Panorama.am.

Melkonyan considers the entry of the foreign citizens with their internal passports one of the most attractive proposals.

“The current level of the Russian-Turkish relations, which largely incorporates an economic element, implies a comprehensive and visible progress in the tourism field,” the turkologist said.

According to Melkonyan, the fact that the visits of the Russian citizens to Armenia and Turkey on the internal passports can be paid in the same period is simply a chronological coincidence.

The turkologist believes that Russia runs a diversified policy in different spheres with different countries. For instance, the country has sold "Iskander" weapon to Armenia, however it will not do the same thing in case of its economic partner Turkey.

“Turkey does not have an "Iskander”. The country tries to acquire C-400 air defense systems from Russia. There are also some other issues that come to show that the Russian-Armenian and Russian-Turkish relations are not on the same level. Eventually, Russia and Armenia have signed a strategic alliance agreement,” the expert said.

Meanwhile Melkonyan observed that the economic relations between Russia and Turkey are in a better state than the Armenian-Russian relations [in the economic sphere], and the access permission of the Russians to Turkey on their internal passports will be a win-win deal.

“Russia demonstrates a diversified approach with different countries in line with the mutual interests in various spheres. For example, Armenia cannot be observed as such a tourism market or a country for vegetable imports for Russia as Turkey is. Meantime, Armenia cannot be compared with Turkey with its strategic importance, as in this respect Armenia is considered highly important for Russia, the best prove of which is the military base, numerous agreements and the types of weapons that Armenia receives from Russia,” he said.

Turkologist currently finds it difficult to point out the outcome of the talks in case they begin. However, he observes that it is mutually beneficial for both of the states.

“A total of 300 Russian women are married to Turkish citizens. Perhaps we should take into account the fact that every year Russia exports several millions of tourists to Turkey. In addition to that, they operate numerous joint companies, which also require certain facilitations in the passport regime,” the expert concluded his remarks.