The Armenian Cause has become a political factor. Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan

The Armenian Cause has become a political factor, an analyst said today, commenting on the events marking the Genocide centennial.

Agreeing that it would be naïve to expect Turkey to either recognize the tragedy or to respond to the calls for reparation, Hrant Melik Shahnazaryan said he nonetheless sees a very important factor: that Turkey saw Armenia isn’t alone in the protection of its national security interests.

“The results will be visible in the course of time, but the South Caucasus seems to have come up with a new political reality which aims to restrain Turkey on the one hand and bring to light new initiatives on the other,” he said, adding that he sees Armenia’s increased political pro-activeness in the region.

The expert said he knows that Turkey is now without allies, with the Gallipoli celebrations did not having yielded the desired result and remaining limited to a political event (unlike the Genocide centennial commemorations in Armenia and different Armenian communities across the world).

“Turkey will start a campaign for weakening the Armenian factor,” Melik-Shahnzazaryan added.