I believe no one will oppose Turkey's co-chairmanship in OSCE Minsk Group: Oxford University professor

Day.Az: Media reports claim the White House plans to appoint well known U.S. State Department diplomat Matthew Bryza as U.S. envoy to Azerbaijan. How, in your opinion, it will affect the US-Azerbaijani relations?

Neil MacFarlane: I gather that the Azerbaijani government has reservations about this appointment. If the two governments disagree on the appointment, one can assume there would be a modest problem in the relationship. But the basis of the relationship is material and it does not depend on disagreements concerning diplomatic appointments.

Q: Do you believe that Turkey can become the 4th member state of the OSCE Minsk Group? If so, how would this impact the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

A: Here the question would be whether any of the conflict parties objected. I don’t think they would. Also, would the other three chairs accept. I think Russia would be okay with it, given the general development of Russo-Turkish relations. The US would be okay with it too. I don’t see any reason why France would disagree.

Q: What can you say about the possible border opening between Turkey and Armenia? Are parliaments of the two countries likely to ratify the protocols?

A: Ratification of the agreement in the two parliaments will be difficult (perhaps more in Turkey than in Armenia). On balance I think the two will ratify, but it may go the other way.

T. Teymur
Day.Az