Armenia Faces Existential Threat: The Turan Project Aims to Finish Armenia’s Erasure Pietro Shakarian
Dr. Pietro Shakarian, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of History at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg and a returning lecturer at the American University of Armenia, responded to Prime Minister Pashinyan’s statement that he sees “no problem” with Turkey potentially pursuing the idea of Greater Turan. Shakarian recalled key historical events, emphasizing that the concept behind the “Turan” project originates from the goal of permanently exterminating the Armenian people from their historical homeland.
“The only thing that truly saved Armenia was the preservation of Eastern Armenia as Soviet Armenia. If this project is fully implemented, in the long term, it would unfortunately complete what the executioners of the Genocide started—because in that case, Eastern Armenia itself would come under threat. We saw what happened in Artsakh; Syunik is under threat, and there is the looming danger of the ‘Zangezur Corridor.’ This is a very serious issue,” he said during the 168TV “Review” program.
On the other hand, according to him, Turkey’s resources for implementing the “Turan” project are limited, as the current leaders and elites of Central Asia are not particularly enthusiastic about the idea; they still remain more or less pro-Russian.
“This is why, even if the Russians consider ‘Greater Turan’ a threat, they think, ‘We can manage it,’ because Russia still holds dominant positions in Central Asia.”
When asked whether Russia can truly manage that risk, he replied:
“That’s exactly the question. Russia had adopted a very passive posture in our region, and we saw what happened with Artsakh. This is directly linked to the ethnic cleansing that took place there, because it emboldened Aliyev — now he wants more. He is talking not only about the idea of ‘Western Azerbaijan’ but also about ‘Iranian Azerbaijan,’ which they call ‘Southern Azerbaijan.’ Especially against the backdrop of a potential war between Israel and the U.S. against Iran, there is a real risk of separatism being stirred up in Iran’s ethnically diverse regions.”
For a deeper insight watch the video.
By Razmik Martirosyan
