Political scientists Alexander Margaryan and Yervand Bozoyan expressed their concerns regarding the ongoing normalization process between Turkey and Armenia at a press conference held today. Mr. Bozoyan went so far as to say that the neogtiating process has essentially collapsed. Mr. Bozoyan stated that Turkey had de-facto set a number of preconditions for any normalization and that as of May 31 pressure brought to bear on Armenia by international organizations will increase. Mr. Bozoyan stated that the recent pronouncements of Turkish PM Erdogan in Baku show that Ankara and Baku are of one mind when it comes to putting the settlement of the Karabakh issue as a precondition for improving Armenian-Turkish relations. The political scientist believes that Armenia made a huge mistake when it went public with the normalization process, labeling it a strategic blunder. Turkey, feeling that it had registered all the dividends on paper, has now directly raised the issue of positive development of the Karabakh issue. "We see the statements being made by Turkey and understand that even if they aren't written down on paper, preconditions do exist. We will feel their impact come June. Turkey is sending signals to international organizations to speed up the Karabakh settlement talks. It is difficult to stop the negotiations process once it has started. Turkey raises the issue of Armenian troop withdrawals from five of the territories so that it becomes a topic of current debate. Pressure on Armenia in this regard will mount. Thus, this policy of 'football diplomacy' was a mistake and we have yet to feel its consequences," stated Mr. Bozoyan. Mr. Margaryan noted three possible scenarios of the negotiating process leading to a normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. The most pessimistic is when the Karabakh settlement becomes a precondition directly linked to the opening of the border. If this is the case, Mr. Margaryan believes that the talks should continue until the logical point is arrived at when it becomes clear that we actually expect the border to be opened according to certain conditions. "We are not talking about preconditions but a set of normal, civilized conditions," he said. Mr. Bozoyan concluded by saying, "Armenia must slowly come around to the conclusion that the process of normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations has collapsed. Armenia must take a firmer position regarding all talks about Karabakh and display its opposition to any non-formal new formats in which Turkey might possibly be included."