Turkey bound to have problems with Russia: Fyodor Lukyanov

Turkey is seeking supremacy in the region and that means it will definitely have problems with Russia, Russian politologist Fyodor Lukyanov told Azerbaijani news website Zerkalo.

"Currently Turkey needs to equally develop relations with all the regional players, including Armenia. But that confronts with the Karabakh conflict. Turkey cannot afford losing Azerbaijan, and on the other hand how should relations be restored with Armenia in this situation. Baku is currently the main player in energy sector. That is why Turkey's active initiatives to open the border with Armenia, as well as act as mediator between Armenia and Azerbaijan have faded away. The only thing Turkey achieved was that it made the play more active in its own field, in its own region," said Mr Lukyanov.

Asked whether the fact that there is no US ambassador in Azerbaijan since a long time could be indicative of a freeze in US-Azerbaijani relations, Mr Lukyanov said: "Hardly. I do not think that something canny is hidden behind it. It probably has its internal reasons. The post-Soviet areas, the South Caucasus in particular, do not occupy the same place among US President Barack Obama's priorities, as they did during [George W.] Bush's term in office. But the US administration cannot ignore the region. So, choosing a right ambassador is not an easy task."