Armenian Diplomacy News
TURKEY OFFERS "DIALOGUE" TO ARMENIA
By Emil Danielyan
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
May 20 2008
Turkey has offered to enter into a "dialogue" with neighboring Armenia that would aim at improving the historically strained relations between the two nations. The diplomatic overtures have prompted a positive response from Armenian leaders, raising fresh hopes for the elimination of a major source of geopolitical tension in the South Caucasus. Ankara, however, has given no official indication so far that it is ready to drop its preconditions for normalizing bilateral ties.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Serzh Sarkisian on his highly controversial victory in Armenia's February 21 presidential election. "I hope your new duty will provide the necessary atmosphere for normalizing ties between the Turkish and Armenian peoples who have proved for centuries that they can live side by side in peace and harmony," Gul wrote to the new Armenian leader (AP, February 21). Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan sent similar congratulatory letters to their newly appointed Armenian counterparts in late April, both of them stressing the need for a "dialogue."
According to the Armenian government's press service, Erdogan also spoke of unspecified "certain steps" that could be taken to normalize Turkish-Armenian relations. "Admittedly we have problems, some of whichdate back 100 years," Babacan told reporters in Ankara on April 21, "but the only way of overcoming these problems is through dialogue. Our doors are open to dialogue in this new period" (AP, April 21).
"I would like to reaffirm the Armenian government's commitment to constructive dialogue and the establishment of normal relations without preconditions," Armenia's Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian said in a written reply to Erdogan. Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian
told RFE/RL's Armenian service on May 1 that he had responded to Babacan's letter in a similarly "positive way." "We should not work the way we did in the past, because we failed to solve our problems and to normalize relations. We should work with a new style," he said without elaborating. Nalbandian found the very fact of a rare exchange of letters between Armenian and Turkish leaders encouraging and expressed the hope that it would be followed by "positive steps."
Turkey closed its land border with Armenia in 1993, at the height of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh, out of solidarity with Azerbaijan, with which it has a close ethnic and
cultural affinity. Successive Turkish governments have since made the reopening of that border and the establishment of diplomatic relations with Yerevan conditional on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. They have also demanded a halt to the decades-long Armenian campaign for international recognition of the 1915-1918 mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Ankara has reacted particularly furiously (most recently in the fall of 2007) to persistent efforts by Armenian lobbying groups in the United States to push such a resolution through Congress.
Armenia's leaders, for their part, have rejected any linkage between the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and Turkish-Armenian ties. They have also agitated for genocide recognition, while stressing that they do not regard it as a precondition for improving relations with Turkey. President Sarkisian reaffirmed this policy in a writtenstatement issued ahead of the April 24 annual remembrance of more than one million Ottoman Armenians killed in what many historians consider the first genocide of the 20th century. He made it clear that Yerevan would continue to support the genocide recognition effort spearheaded by the worldwide Armenian diaspora "with multiplied vigor."
Whether the proposed dialogue is a sign of a softening of the Turkish policy on Armenia or a public relations stunt is not yet clear. The offer seems in stark contrast to the Turkish government's reported refusal to allow an organization of Turkish and Armenian businessmen lobbying for cross-border commerce between the two countries to open
an office in Istanbul. In a May 9 statement, the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC) said that it had been ordered by the Turkish Interior Ministry to "cease its activities in Turkey." The TABDC said the ban was "sending mixed signals regarding the Turkish government's intentions." "The rejection letter by the Ministry of Interior in Ankara is all the more surprising as this same government had sought help from the TABDC a few years ago to establish contact with Armenians in Armenia and the Diaspora," the group's Turkish co-chairman, Kaan Soyak, complained.
Ankara has stuck to its preconditions despite years of pressure from Washington, which believes that the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations would give a huge boost to regional stability. "I think that there are a lot of people in the upper reaches of the Turkish government who recognize that an open border would change the strategic map here in a very positive way," US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Matthew Bryza said in October 2007
(RFE/RL, October 24, 2007).
According to David Phillips, an American scholar who chaired a US-sponsored "reconciliation commission" of prominent Turks and Armenians, Ankara came within an inch of opening that border in the summer of 2003. In a book published in 2005, Phillips said the Turks backed off after the U.S. pressure "all but disappeared" with the onset of the war in Iraq. With no such pressure visible at the moment and prospects for a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement remaining uncertain, a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement may still be a long way off.
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THe European Parliament fails to draw up an objective report on Turkey
The Oomen-Ruijten report flouted the Accession Partnership criteria
and the requirements of the Neighbourhood Policy
Strasbourg, May 21st 2008 – The European Parliament gathered in plenary
session voted today the report prepared by Mrs Oomen-Ruijten (Conservative,
Netherlands) on the Turkey’s 2007 progress report and its 28 tabled amendments.
From a general point of view, the resolution focuses its critics on Turkey’s delays
to fulfill its reforms commitments, especially those regarding the State of Law,
democracy, legislative reforms and the minorities’ rights. The resolution claims
that “additional delays” in the implementation of these reforms “will seriously affect
the rhythm of the negotiations”.
Regarding the various aspects of Turkey’s denial policy, the MEPs failed to
produce an objective report which gives a fair decision on European Parliament’s
positions already established on the Armenian genocide, and this in spite of the
strong positions expressed by a great number of MEPs during the debates.
They have also adopted an amendment tabled by the MEPs supporting Turkey’s
interests (Cem Özdemir, Joost Lagendijk – Greens) which aims at minimizing the
blockade on Armenia exerted by Turkey for 15 years.
“The Oomen-Ruijten report failed to show the reality of Turkey; it proved once
again that regarding the Armenian genocide the European position is well established
on denial, as is the candidate country’s. It waters down even the Parliament’s
position regarding the blockade on Armenia by being in flagrant contradiction with
the Accession criteria and the requirements of the Neighbourhood policy:
the Oomen-Ruijten report cannot contribute to a real dialogue between the
Union and Turkey”, declared Hilda Tchoboian, the chairperson of the European
Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy.
Referring to the article 301, in spite of the unanimous requirements for abolition
made by the Turkish and European civil societies, the report is satisfied with
indicating “that is of the view that the abrogation of the 301 article would be
the best solution”, and considering the cosmetic reform of this article as “a first step”.
The European Armenian Federation reminds that the slight reform of the 301 article
deceived the European public opinion, and offended the Turkish defenders
of Human Rights, the first victims of this iniquitous law which remains unchanged
after so many years of governmental promises.
“The compromising of the Oomen-Ruijten report with a law that penalizes a right
so fundamental that is the freedom of expression for Europe will not help the
Turkish democratic forces to upgrade their society”, commented Hilda Tchoboian.
“What the European societies demand from the European Parliament, is to
express in its reports more transparent positions, the truth on the situation of
Human Rights and democracy in Turkey: it is regrettable that the report diffuses
a screen of smoke in order to hide from the public opinion the seriousness
of Turkey’s breaches in these fields, yet necessary for the examination of the
integration of this country in the European Union”, concluded Hilda Tchoboian.
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KARABAKH FOLLOWS IN KOSOVO'S STEPS
by Ivan Preobrazhensky, Aleksei Bausin
DEFENSE and SECURITY
May 21, 2008 Wednesday
Russia
Bringing in 500,000 Armenians, Karabakh authorities intend to get
international recognition
WILL NAGORNO-KARABAKH ARRANGE ITS OWN TALKS WITH AZERBAIJAN?; Official
Stepanakert maintains that it itself should negotiate peace settlement
with Azerbaijan.
Nagorno-Karabakh President Bako Saakjan is convinced that
Nagorno-Karabakh should participate in the pace settlement talks with
Azerbaijan. "Independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is the principal
warring side. It has the priorities analogous to those of another
countries," Saakjan said. All negotiations have been conducted by
Armenia these last 14 years. Nagorno-Karabakh only participated in
the truce signing in 1994.
Gegam Bagdasarjan, the only oppositionist deputy on the Karabakh
parliament, suspects that the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities might
have been upset by rumors that Armenia was ready to give part of the
Karabakh territories to Azerbaijan to settle the matter.
Not even Armenia has established diplomatic relations with
Stepanakert. Azerbaijani settlements in Karabakh are in ruins,
Armenian thrive with help from diasporas abroad.
The army comprises approximately one sixth of the population. Economic
revival is undeniable. "Stability will culminate in a doctrine of
maximum density of the population," Karabakh Prime Minister Araik
Arutyunjan said. According to official estimates, the population of
Nagorno-Karabakh stands at under 150,000 men, density of population
amounting to one tenth of the Armenian. The government is out to
stabilize the population at 500,000. Population inflow is double
the outflow. The birth rate is about 14 births per 1,000 people. A
denser population may help with the problem of recognition "as it
did in Kosovo" (to quote Arutyunjan).
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandjan believes that status of
Nagorno-Karabakh should be determined at a referendum. "Moscow stands
for a compromise reached with help from foreign intermediaries,"
Leonid Slutsky of the International Committee of the Duma said.
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Trend News Agency
May 19 2008
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Baku, 19 May / corr. TrendNews S. Agayeva/ Azerbaijan has
refused to hold talks with the Armenian community of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Nagorno-Karabakh should independently take part in the talks on
peaceful settlement of the conflict with Azerbaijan," Bako Saakyan,
the president of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic said to
Vedomosti. "There is a key party in the conflict - an independent
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic- with the same priorities as in the case
of other foreign states," Saakyan said.
"From the very beginning, the talks on settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were held with Armenia as an aggressor
country, but not with those who are inhabited in Nagorno-Karabakh to
serve as a screen," Khazar Ibrahim, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry
of Azerbaijan said to TrendNews on 19 May.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.
According to Ibrahim, head of the Armenian community of
Nagorno-Karabakh made some mistakes in his statements. "There is not
any "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NGR)" concept; there is only Armenian
community of Nagorno-Karabakh. At the moment, no talks can be held
with the representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic," he said.
According to spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, "NGR" is
not functioning within the Azerbaijani law, this territory and other
surrounding lands are under the Armenian occupation who directly takes
part in all the illegal moves against Azerbaijan. These illegal moves
by Armenia led to the fact that some people in Nagorno-Karabakh call
themselves official representatives of some judicial institution,
Ibrahim said.
Talks with the Armenian community can be held only in case Armenia
liberates Azerbaijani territory, Azerbaijani community returns to its
lands and all conditions are provided for the peaceful co-existence
of both communities in Nagorno-Karabakh, the official representative
of the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry said.
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