In a geopolitical sense, Russia and Turkey will remain rivals and competitors, Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov has told ArmInfo when commenting on possible Russian-Turkish reconciliation.
He thinks that Russia and Turkey are serious regional players, consequently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's apologies cannot instantly establish friendly relations between the countries. "These countries will maintain competition in many issues, but in economic terms they can supplement each other and receive benefits. This is an exclusively economic deal, which is favorable to both countries," he says.
Sharmazanov notes that Russia is an ally of Armenia, however, the latter has never determined its relations with Turkey by its ties with the third countries. At the same time, the Vice Speaker thinks it is ridiculous and primitive to say that the Russian-Turkish reconciliation and the good Moscow-Baku relations will result in cession of Artsakh.
To note, on June 27 Russian President's Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan begged Russia's pardon for having downed the Russian Su-24 plane over Syria. The downing of the plane resulted in deterioration of the Moscow-Ankara relations. After the Turkish leader's apologies, the situation may change given that this week Erdogan and Putin are expected to have a telephone talk.