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While Armenia is cherishing the hopes for alliance and friendship with its Western partners that may bring investments to the country’s devastated economy, they are unlikely to come true.

Apparently, the West will only use Armenia as its stronghold to pursue its anti-Turkish, anti-Azerbaijani, anti-Russian and – what comes strange – anti-Iranian policies.

After taking up the post of the prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, referring to the topic of relations with Turkey, said that he was ready to establish them without any preconditions. He also touched upon important issues between Ankara and Yerevan and the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. At the same time, he noted that his standpoint on the so-called “Armenian genocide” does not differ from the position of the previous leaders of Armenia and he will make every effort for its international recognition.

Over the years, Turkey has not softened the tone in the dialogue with Armenia. In particular, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan firmly stated that Turkey, as a sign of solidarity with Azerbaijan, will keep the borders with Armenia closed. The Turkish government is categorically against recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Speaking of Armenian-Turkish relationship, one cannot miss the issue of territorial claims. The fact is that part of the present Turkish territory, marked on the map as Eastern Anatolia, is called ‘Western Armenia’ in Yerevan, which was allegedly occupied by Ottoman Turkey during the World War I. As a precondition for the establishment of diplomatic relations, Turkey requires Armenia to rebondon its territorial claims against Turkey.

Of course, one cannot believe that such a small country with a weak economy like Armenia can make territorial claims against Turkey. However, Turkey sees danger not in Armenia but in the West that controls it.

The geopolitical games taking place in Armenia weaken Moscow's control over this state. Strengthening forces here are the ideal source of the Western threat to Turkey. Thanks to the propaganda of the far-fetched “Armenian genocide”, which has been ongoing for many years, the image of “enemy Turkey” has been created among the Armenian public. By and large, the issue of “Armenian genocide” is a means of pressure of certain circles on Turkey.

At the same time, Russia, which has its own interests in the region, has long viewed Armenia as its true ally, but this view should be reconsidered now. Pashinyan’s anti-Russian government which was brought to power by the West may plunge a knife into Russia’s back at any time.

The political image of Pashinyan should be viewed in details as well. Today, he is presented rather as a pragmatist who understands that Russia cannot be played with. Therefore, it is largely expected that he will not openly take anti-Russian course in his foreign policy. Pashinyan himself confirmed that he will necessarily pursue the former policy of strategic partnership with Russia during the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on May 14.

However, this statement contradicts his previous statements regarding Russia. Prior to becoming the prime minister of Armenia, the then oppositionist Pashinyan made a number of anti-Russian statements, urging the Armenian authorities to leave the alliance with Russia, in particular, the Eurasian Economic Union. How can a person who changes his mind in such a short period be trusted?

At the same time, the real steps and actions of the new Armenian authorities show that Pashinyan and his administration are far from a pro-Russian attitude. One only needs to check out the team of the new prime minister in order to realize that the future Armenia will be not only neutral to Russia but even opposite to the country.

The most vivid example of this was Pashinyan's appointment of Babken Ter-Grigoryan as the Deputy Minister of Diaspora. This person is a French Armenian, who worked in the U.S. for a long time, and then was the coordinator of George Soros' Open Society Foundations in Yerevan. The most important fact is that for a long time, Ter-Grigoryan was the organizer of mass protests against Russia and Putin in Armenia. The picture of him holding a poster with obscene insults against Putin, which has recently been actively discussed on the Internet, makes it clear that now the relations between Armenia and Russia will not be as warm as they used to be.

Another example is the recent appointment of David Sanasaryan as the Head of the State Control Service of Armenia. In the past, he was a member of the pro-Western Heritage party, and has earned a reputation as true a Russophobe. Similarly to Ter-Grigoryan, Sanasaryan often took part in anti-Russian protests in the streets of Yerevan and was demanding the withdrawal of the Russian military base from Armenia.

There is yet another member of Pashinyan's team who is well known for his anti-Russian position – the Science and Education Minister Arayik Harutyunyan. In his first speech after the appointment to the post, Harutyunyan showed his hatred to Russia and the Russian language by equating the Cyrillic alphabet with "trash."

Thus, it becomes clear that Pashinyan is recruiting an obviously anti-Russian team. This is a further demonstration of his pro-Western policy and plan to alienate Armenia from Russia in the near future.

At the same time, anti-Iranian policy from Armenian side comes strange and surprising as Islamic Republic is Armenia's partner who persistently maintained relations with it throughout the years of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories. But considering the Western desire to somehow harm Iran, Armenia may become the most comfortable foothold to attain this goal.

Considering all the above-mentioned facts, one can confidently say that Azerbaijan is the only reliable partner of Russia in South Caucasus with a stable political course aimed at achieving prosperity in the region.

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