YEREVAN — The President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sarkisian has sent a congratulatory message to Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the occasion of election on the post of the President of Turkey, the Armenian President’s press service reported..
“Your Excellency,
I congratulate you on your election as President of the Republic of Turkey. I wish good health to you and prosperity and progress to the Turkish people.
Taking the office of President of the Republic of Turkey, you, undoubtedly, have the possibility to make a contribution to the fulfillment of the bilateral agreements, which we have reached, without any preconditions.
Mr. President, kindly accept the assurances of my deep respect,” the message reads.
Sarkisian congratulated Erdogan three days after launched a scathing attack on him in a televised interview aired on Monday, in response to Turkey’s outgoing prime minister and president-elect racist slur against Armenians.
“I really think that many Armenians would have also been offended if it had suddenly turned out that Erdogan is an Armenian,” Sarkisian told the Armnews channel. “We should not be surprised by this [comment.]”
“People occupying such a position must be composed. But they [in Ankara] lack composure,” he said.
Analysts in Yerevan believe that during Erdogan’s presidency Turkey will continue to link the normalization of relations with Armenia to a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. They also do not expect a radical change in Ankara’s position on the 1915 Armenian genocide.
