To note, Russian President Vladimir Putin is at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan to attend the centennial events. On April 24, 2015, Armenians worldwide commemorate the centenary of the Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, which claimed 1.5 million Armenian lives.
"I would say that one should not expect any breakthroughs in the dynamics of Moscow-Yerevan-Ankara relations in the light of the Russian first persons' visits to Armenia and Turkey. The Kremlin will simply continue the current foreign political course both in the South Caucasus and in Eurasia, i.e. the strategic alliance with Yerevan and market relations with Baku and Ankara," says the analyst. Markedonov assesses such an approach as cynical and neglectful and stresses that Moscow's policy by no means undermines the status quo in the south of the post-Soviet space.
"This is why President Putin has abstained from new political declarations in Yerevan and only paid his tribute to the victims' memory. For its part, Ankara, which is interested in diversification of the Eurasian policy and establishment of economic cooperation with Moscow, will not resort to excessive dramatization of Putin's trip to Yerevan, especially given Russian State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin's participation in the Gallipoli festivities," he says.
Turkey still denies the Armenian Genocide, which has been recognized by 44 Us States, 25 countries, the European Parliament and other authoritative international organizations.