Turkish studies specialist Ruben Safrastyan stated today that the time had come for serious Turkish studies to take hold in Armenia and welcomed the signs that this process is slowly happening. “I am glad that this is now happening and we must use recent political developments to give a boost to serious Turkish academic study,” he said. Mr. Safrastyan also noted that Armenian studies in Turkey had entered a new stage of development as well and that, contrary to the past, when all efforts were geared to distorting history, there are many Turkish specialists who are taking an objective approach to Armenian studies. Replying to reporters’ questions regarding recent statements made by Turkish officials linking normalization with progress on the Karabakh issue, Mr. Safrastyan argued that these remarks were a part of Turkish foreign policy designed to extract as many concessions from Armenia as possible. He added that it was due to western pressure that the Turkish Parliament was now debating the protocols package and that the Turkish government had realized that the time of using crude force was over. “I am not convinced that the committee will reach any decision by December 7 and thus the meeting of Erdogan with President Obama just might fall through,” Mr. Safrastyan stated. He also stated the Turkish government is presently focused on finding some sort of resolution to the Kurdish question and that it would only pay lip service to the normalizing of Armenia-Turkish relations until s solution to the Kurdish issue is reached.