Protocal News
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Click on this speech to the parliamant in Armenian by Dr Armen Ayvazyan
on the responsibilities of the ROA government:
RFE/RL Report
Sarkisian Defends Landmark Deal With Turkey
Armenia -- President Serzh Sarkisian defends his agreements with
Turkey at a meeting of his Public Council on September 30, 2009.
30.09.2009
Hovannes Shoghikian
Armenia -- President Serzh Sarkisian defends his agreements with
Turkey at a meeting of his Public Council on September 30, 2009.
30.09.2009
Hovannes Shoghikian
President Serzh Sarkisian strongly defended his policy of
rapprochement with Turkey on Wednesday, insisting that it will not
thwart greater international recognition of the Armenian genocide or
result in more Armenian concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In his most in-depth public speech on the charged subject delivered to
date, Sarkisian portrayed the fence-mending agreements finalized by
Ankara and Yerevan as a `realistic' compromise necessary for Armenia.
`This is nether an agreement on our capitulation to Turkey, nor a big
treaty on strategic partnership to cause concern. And if somebody
thinks that these documents should contain only our desires and lead
to the realization of only our aspirations, they need to be a little
realistic and understand that that's not possible,' he told members of
the presidential Public Council, a body comprising 36 pro-
establishment politicians and public figures.
Sarkisian again acknowledged that the two Turkish-Armenian draft
protocols envisaging the normalization of bilateral relations carry
potential risks for the Armenian side. `But when did we not have
[concerns?]' he asked. `When we were voting for Armenia's independence
[in 1991,] were all of us 100 percent certain that everything will go
smoothly? I personally had a lot of concerns and anguish when we were
forced to mount an armed struggle [against Azerbaijan] in Nagorno-
Karabakh.'
`If we are unable or unprepared to hold negotiations with the Turks,
why did we become independent in the first place?' he added. `We could
have left our status unchanged and let others continue to determine
our policy in our place.'
Armenia -- The presidential Public Council discusses Armenias
agreements with Turkey on September 30, 2009.
The president addressed the Public Council at the end of a nearly
three-hour meeting that wrapped up its discussions on his conciliatory
policy on Turkey. The head of the consultative body, Vazgen Manukian,
said it overwhelmingly voted for a resolution that recommended the
protocols' ratification by the Armenian parliament. `We discussed all
the pluses and minuses, drew a line, added up things, and got a plus,'
Manukian told the meeting.
Still, several members of the council voiced reservations about some
provisions of the deal which is expected to be signed on October 10.
Among them were Hayk Demoyan, director of the Museum-Institute of the
Armenian Genocide, and Ruben Safrastian, director of the Institute of
Oriental Studies at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.
The two historians were specifically worried about the planned
formation of a Turkish-Armenian `sub-commission' that would look into
the 1915 mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire. They asked Sarkisian to comment on concerns that Ankara could
exploit the existence of such a body to keep more countries from
recognizing the massacres as genocide.
`It's obvious that if that process [of genocide recognition] slows or,
in which I don't believe, is suspended, it will be the fault of not
our initiative but those people who want to use the initiative as an
excuse for not dealing with that matter,' replied Sarkisian.
He also argued that both sides will be equally represented in the
controversial panel and that the Turks will not be able to determine
its agenda single-handedly. `Nor sensible Armenian can forget the
genocide,' he said.
Sarkisian also rounded on critics for condemning another protocol
clause which commits Armenia to explicitly recognizing its existing
border with Turkey defined by the 1921 Treaty of Kars. `The Soviet
Union recognized the Treaty of Kars for five times, and when we joined
the Commonwealth of Independent States [in 1991] ... we pledged to
comply with all agreements signed by the Soviet Union,' he said. He
insisted at the same time that neither protocol obligates Yerevan to
recognize the 1921 document.
The Armenian leader further dismissed as `ludicrous' his detractors'
claims that Turkey agreed to make peace with Armenia only in return
for additional concessions to Azerbaijan allegedly promised by him. He
indicated that his administration's position on the Karabakh conflict
is not different from his predecessor Robert Kocharian's policy.
`If we don't see such a solution [acceptable to the Armenian side]
nothing can force us to accept it,' he said. `In that case, the entire
nation would have to rally and say that we are ready to fight and go
to war.'
Sarkisian's policies on Karabakh and Turkey have been criticized by
Armenia's leading opposition forces, notably the mutually antagonistic
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and the Armenian
National Congress (HAK) of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian. In a
clear reference to Ter-Petrosian and his associates, he said that he
respects only those critics who did not favor improved ties with
Turkey `four, five or fifteen years ago.'
The president also took an apparent swipe at Dashnaktsutyun which
pulled out of his governing coalition in April in protest against his
Turkish policy. He implied that the nationalist party was aware of his
views on the issue when joined his coalition cabinets in 2007 and 2008.
`We had presidential and parliamentary elections [in 2008 and 2007]
and one of our current critics could have stood up and said, `This pre-
election platform's provision on establishing relations with Turkey is
absolutely condemnable,'' he said. `Why didn't they talk about these
issues then?'
rapprochement with Turkey on Wednesday, insisting that it will not
thwart greater international recognition of the Armenian genocide or
result in more Armenian concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In his most in-depth public speech on the charged subject delivered to
date, Sarkisian portrayed the fence-mending agreements finalized by
Ankara and Yerevan as a `realistic' compromise necessary for Armenia.
`This is nether an agreement on our capitulation to Turkey, nor a big
treaty on strategic partnership to cause concern. And if somebody
thinks that these documents should contain only our desires and lead
to the realization of only our aspirations, they need to be a little
realistic and understand that that's not possible,' he told members of
the presidential Public Council, a body comprising 36 pro-
establishment politicians and public figures.
Sarkisian again acknowledged that the two Turkish-Armenian draft
protocols envisaging the normalization of bilateral relations carry
potential risks for the Armenian side. `But when did we not have
[concerns?]' he asked. `When we were voting for Armenia's independence
[in 1991,] were all of us 100 percent certain that everything will go
smoothly? I personally had a lot of concerns and anguish when we were
forced to mount an armed struggle [against Azerbaijan] in Nagorno-
Karabakh.'
`If we are unable or unprepared to hold negotiations with the Turks,
why did we become independent in the first place?' he added. `We could
have left our status unchanged and let others continue to determine
our policy in our place.'
Armenia -- The presidential Public Council discusses Armenias
agreements with Turkey on September 30, 2009.
The president addressed the Public Council at the end of a nearly
three-hour meeting that wrapped up its discussions on his conciliatory
policy on Turkey. The head of the consultative body, Vazgen Manukian,
said it overwhelmingly voted for a resolution that recommended the
protocols' ratification by the Armenian parliament. `We discussed all
the pluses and minuses, drew a line, added up things, and got a plus,'
Manukian told the meeting.
Still, several members of the council voiced reservations about some
provisions of the deal which is expected to be signed on October 10.
Among them were Hayk Demoyan, director of the Museum-Institute of the
Armenian Genocide, and Ruben Safrastian, director of the Institute of
Oriental Studies at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.
The two historians were specifically worried about the planned
formation of a Turkish-Armenian `sub-commission' that would look into
the 1915 mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire. They asked Sarkisian to comment on concerns that Ankara could
exploit the existence of such a body to keep more countries from
recognizing the massacres as genocide.
`It's obvious that if that process [of genocide recognition] slows or,
in which I don't believe, is suspended, it will be the fault of not
our initiative but those people who want to use the initiative as an
excuse for not dealing with that matter,' replied Sarkisian.
He also argued that both sides will be equally represented in the
controversial panel and that the Turks will not be able to determine
its agenda single-handedly. `Nor sensible Armenian can forget the
genocide,' he said.
Sarkisian also rounded on critics for condemning another protocol
clause which commits Armenia to explicitly recognizing its existing
border with Turkey defined by the 1921 Treaty of Kars. `The Soviet
Union recognized the Treaty of Kars for five times, and when we joined
the Commonwealth of Independent States [in 1991] ... we pledged to
comply with all agreements signed by the Soviet Union,' he said. He
insisted at the same time that neither protocol obligates Yerevan to
recognize the 1921 document.
The Armenian leader further dismissed as `ludicrous' his detractors'
claims that Turkey agreed to make peace with Armenia only in return
for additional concessions to Azerbaijan allegedly promised by him. He
indicated that his administration's position on the Karabakh conflict
is not different from his predecessor Robert Kocharian's policy.
`If we don't see such a solution [acceptable to the Armenian side]
nothing can force us to accept it,' he said. `In that case, the entire
nation would have to rally and say that we are ready to fight and go
to war.'
Sarkisian's policies on Karabakh and Turkey have been criticized by
Armenia's leading opposition forces, notably the mutually antagonistic
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and the Armenian
National Congress (HAK) of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian. In a
clear reference to Ter-Petrosian and his associates, he said that he
respects only those critics who did not favor improved ties with
Turkey `four, five or fifteen years ago.'
The president also took an apparent swipe at Dashnaktsutyun which
pulled out of his governing coalition in April in protest against his
Turkish policy. He implied that the nationalist party was aware of his
views on the issue when joined his coalition cabinets in 2007 and 2008.
`We had presidential and parliamentary elections [in 2008 and 2007]
and one of our current critics could have stood up and said, `This pre-
election platform's provision on establishing relations with Turkey is
absolutely condemnable,'' he said. `Why didn't they talk about these
issues then?'
PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: I SEE NO PRELIMINARY CONDITIONS
IN THE INITIAL ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS
ArmInfo
2009-09-30 14:53:00
Arminfo. 'I see no preliminary conditions in the initial
Armenian-Turkish protocols', - Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said
at today's discussion of the issue of the Armenian-Turkish relations
together with representatives of Public Council of the republic.
The president calmly accepts anxiety of the society on the matter. He
said it is not a treaty on capitulation or an agreement on strategic
partnership so that not to cause anxiety. 'The initial protocols cannot
reflect only our wishes. We are not striving to establish friendly
relations with Turkey, we are just trying to create the relevant
atmosphere for work where a dialogue may be started', - the president
said and added that at the beginning of the liberation war in Nagornyy
Karabakh many people also felt anxiety. 'We have to establish natural
relations with Turkey. For this reason we have to start a dialogue. If
somebody is against this dialogue, I can accept his position only if
he has always been principally against this idea. But when the people,
the purpose of which is to collect scores, that is bad. There are the
political forces which are sure they are right and we are obliged to
respect their viewpoint', - the president concluded.
ArmInfo
2009-09-30 14:53:00
Arminfo. 'I see no preliminary conditions in the initial
Armenian-Turkish protocols', - Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said
at today's discussion of the issue of the Armenian-Turkish relations
together with representatives of Public Council of the republic.
The president calmly accepts anxiety of the society on the matter. He
said it is not a treaty on capitulation or an agreement on strategic
partnership so that not to cause anxiety. 'The initial protocols cannot
reflect only our wishes. We are not striving to establish friendly
relations with Turkey, we are just trying to create the relevant
atmosphere for work where a dialogue may be started', - the president
said and added that at the beginning of the liberation war in Nagornyy
Karabakh many people also felt anxiety. 'We have to establish natural
relations with Turkey. For this reason we have to start a dialogue. If
somebody is against this dialogue, I can accept his position only if
he has always been principally against this idea. But when the people,
the purpose of which is to collect scores, that is bad. There are the
political forces which are sure they are right and we are obliged to
respect their viewpoint', - the president concluded.
Voice of America
Turkey to Re-establish Ties with Armenia
By Dorian Jones
30 September 2009
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a gathering at Princeton University,
Princeton, 23 Sep 2009
Turkey's prime minister says an agreement to re-establish diplomatic
ties with Armenia will be signed by the two countries on October
10. Turkey severed ties and closed its border in 1993 after Armenia
fought a war with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nargono Karbakh
enclave. The announcement is the latest development in the thawing of
bilateral relations.
It was last year's football match between Turkey and Armenia in the
Armenian capital Yerevan that was the catalyst for the rapprochement
between the two countries.
Under Swiss mediation, the Turkey and Armenia have conducted talks to
re-establish diplomatic relations, with both sides agreeing on a
protocol to normalize relations.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has now said that the
protocol will be signed on October 10. International Relations expert
of Istanbul's Bilgi University says its an important step forward to
restoring relations, but it's just a step..
"I think its pretty significant but then the protocols are going to be
sent to the respective parliaments for ratification and that's when
the deal gets a bit more complicated, there is strong opposition both
in Armenia and Turkey," he said.
Already the main opposition parties in Turkey have condemned the
announcement accusing the government of betraying its ally
Azerbaijan. Ankara severed its ties with Yerevan and closed its border
in 1993 after Armenia fought a war with Azerbaijan over the disputed
Nargono Karbakh enclave.
Armenian forces continue to occupy a large part of Azeri
territory. The government has been quick to dispel accusations of
betrayal saying they remain committed to Azerbaijan.
Earlier this month, Suat Kiniklioglu, spokesman of the Turkish
parliament's foreign affairs committee, insisted that resolving Azeri
grievances remains key to restoring Armenian- Turkish relations.
"Without movement on the Karabahk issue that the normalization process
would be difficult to sustain. The trick here is how do you manage to
have movement on this side, and at the same time sustain the
normalization process without domestically each countries having major
problems. Again another expression I like in the English language, all
the stars are lined up in the right place," he said.
According to international relations expert Soli Ozel, the region's
main powers may for the first time have common interests in bringing
stability to the region.
"My understanding is there is almost near agreement on a frame work
between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Americans, of course, are behind
these developments," said Ozel. "But the Russian part is more
important because the Russians can block it anytime they want. But i
think it serves their purpose too because Russian and American
relations seem to be on a better track now than they been for quite
some time now. The Russians may wish to be on the right side of
things. Plus give that Turkish-Russian relations are pretty good and
the Russians would like to send their gas and petrol through Turkey to
where ever, that is something that suits them," Ozel added.
Washington has also being using its diplomatic muscle to pressure and
encourage both Ankara and Yerevan to normalize relations.
Still, there is a historical controversy between Armenia and Turkey,
which could yet undermine those attempts.
Yerevan along with much of the international community accuses
Turkey's then Ottoman rulers in 1915 of committing genocide against
its Armenian minority. Ankara strongly denies the charge. The
controversy continues to sour relations and according to political
scientist and newspaper columnist, Nuray Mert, says there is deep
suspicion within the country over the rapprochement.
"This talk of accepting genocide, these are traps or steps in the way
of accepting genocide, or this discourse of genocide is being imposed
in us by great powers, western powers. That's why this opening the
border debate is not a simple question, for anybody. And the political
opposition is using , knowing that it is a very sensitive issue, is
using it against the government so the matter is getting even more
complicated," said Mert.
The coming weeks are now already being described by analysts as
crucial in helping to bring stability to one of the most unstable
regions in the world.
TURKEY, ARMENIA AND THE FRUITS OF GENOCIDE
Rose Pallone
Raffi K. Hovannisian
http://www.asbarez.com/2009/09/28/turkey-armenia-and-the-fruits-of-genocide/
Sep 28, 2009
Governments and commentators have hailed the two recently-announced
protocols between Turkey and Armenia. If signed and ratified, they
will provide a timetable for the opening of the Turkish-Armenian
border and the establishment of full diplomatic relations.
Unfortunately, the exuberance in Western capitals is based on energy
routes, geopolitics and the desire to smooth the way for Turkey as
a regional power and EU aspirant. It ignores the sinister aspects of
the deal.
Certainly, Armenia has long pushed for an end to the Turkish blockade
of Armenia, an open border and diplomatic relations with Turkey without
precondition. This has also been the stated U.S. and European position.
This approach acknowledges that the Armenian-Turkish relationship
is complicated and burdened by the Armenian Genocide. Open borders,
diplomatic relations and people-to-people contacts must come first
before Turkey and Armenia can begin to sort out a very difficult
legacy, issues of restitution and reparations and to what extent
Turkey should continue to enjoy the fruits of genocide.
The proposed protocols, however, will serve to meet two long-standing
Turkish preconditions to normalization of relations with Armenia. The
first is to forestall further progress in formal international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The second is to confirm and
help remove the juridical cloud from the Turkey Armenia frontier.
This frontier, which, under the Turkish blockade, is the last closed
border in Europe, lacks legal status. It is an important issue for
Turkey. The day after the protocols were announced, Turkey's Foreign
Minister stated that recognition of the current boundary was a basic
element of the proposed agreements, without which, "we cannot talk
about being neighbors."
Turkey's strategy to shirk its obligations to Armenia under
international law is to marginalize Armenia and to deny the Genocide,
in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed and the survivors
dispossessed of most of their 3,000 year-old homeland. Turkey uses
its growing strategic and economic power to enlist American and
European support for these initiatives. The offending provisions in
the proposed protocols are part of this process.
Armenia is small, land-locked and vulnerable. It previously resisted
Turkish preconditions to normalization. However, after elections marred
by fraud and political violence, the current Armenian administration
has been susceptible to Turkish, European and American pressure on
this issue. Given the legacy of the Armenian Genocide, European
and American roles in promoting, rather than objecting to, these
preconditions is outrageous.
In the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide, President Woodrow Wilson
fixed Turkey's boundary with Armenia in an arbitral award issued under
U.S. presidential seal. This remains the only binding demarcation of
the Turkish-Armenian frontier in accordance with an agreement between
sovereign and independent Turkish and Armenian states.
Although the de jure border and the award of these territories to
Armenia continue to be legally valid, the 1920 invasion of Armenia
by Kemalist and Bolshevik forces sealed these lands in Turkey and
gave us the current de facto border.
The great irony is that a significant stretch of the energy and
transport routes that are the sources of an emerging Turkish power
pass through these territories, which were also the killing fields
of the Armenian Genocide. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and
the parallel natural gas South Caucasus Pipeline do. So will the
proposed Nabucco pipeline project. These territories and projects,
so vital to Turkey's goal to become a major international energy hub,
are the fruits of genocide. And Armenia enjoys none of their political
and economic benefits.
Sadly, open hatred of Armenians is everywhere in Turkey, in
official and semi-official media, in the state school system, in
state-sanctioned discrimination and elsewhere in and out of government.
Of course, the pinnacle of this hatred is genocide denial, which
genocide scholars tells us constitutes the final stage of genocide. But
consider the Turkish Defense Minister who asks rhetorically whether
the present Turkish nation state would have been possible without
the elimination of the Armenian population or the Turkish President
who charges an opposition Turkish parliamentarian with defamation
for alleging he has Armenian roots. Remember the murder of the
Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, or the planned attacks on
Turkish-Armenian community leaders by Ergenekon, the ultranationalist
organization associated with what in Turkey is referred to as the
"Deep State."
With the demonization of Armenians in Turkish nationalist ideology,
an official policy of genocide denial and Ankara's proven hostility
to the reborn Armenian state, that the West does not actively oppose
Turkish preconditions should give everyone pause.
The enduring legacy of the Armenian Genocide is not just a challenge
for Turkey and Armenia. It is also a challenge for Europe and
America. The West, despite growing Turkish power and influence, should
encourage Turkey to take responsibility for the Armenian Genocide,
not assist Turkey in compelling Armenia to agree to preconditions
that humiliate the victimized party and prejudice the integrity and
outcome of any future genuine reconciliation process between Turkey
and Armenia.
Ultimately, the Turkish-Armenian conversation must include two thorny
issues: first, to what extent Turkey should continue to enjoy the
fruits of genocide and second, the integrity of the border it shares
with Armenia.
Raffi Hovannisian was independent Armenia's first minister of foreign
affairs.
By Dorian Jones
30 September 2009
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a gathering at Princeton University,
Princeton, 23 Sep 2009
Turkey's prime minister says an agreement to re-establish diplomatic
ties with Armenia will be signed by the two countries on October
10. Turkey severed ties and closed its border in 1993 after Armenia
fought a war with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nargono Karbakh
enclave. The announcement is the latest development in the thawing of
bilateral relations.
It was last year's football match between Turkey and Armenia in the
Armenian capital Yerevan that was the catalyst for the rapprochement
between the two countries.
Under Swiss mediation, the Turkey and Armenia have conducted talks to
re-establish diplomatic relations, with both sides agreeing on a
protocol to normalize relations.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has now said that the
protocol will be signed on October 10. International Relations expert
of Istanbul's Bilgi University says its an important step forward to
restoring relations, but it's just a step..
"I think its pretty significant but then the protocols are going to be
sent to the respective parliaments for ratification and that's when
the deal gets a bit more complicated, there is strong opposition both
in Armenia and Turkey," he said.
Already the main opposition parties in Turkey have condemned the
announcement accusing the government of betraying its ally
Azerbaijan. Ankara severed its ties with Yerevan and closed its border
in 1993 after Armenia fought a war with Azerbaijan over the disputed
Nargono Karbakh enclave.
Armenian forces continue to occupy a large part of Azeri
territory. The government has been quick to dispel accusations of
betrayal saying they remain committed to Azerbaijan.
Earlier this month, Suat Kiniklioglu, spokesman of the Turkish
parliament's foreign affairs committee, insisted that resolving Azeri
grievances remains key to restoring Armenian- Turkish relations.
"Without movement on the Karabahk issue that the normalization process
would be difficult to sustain. The trick here is how do you manage to
have movement on this side, and at the same time sustain the
normalization process without domestically each countries having major
problems. Again another expression I like in the English language, all
the stars are lined up in the right place," he said.
According to international relations expert Soli Ozel, the region's
main powers may for the first time have common interests in bringing
stability to the region.
"My understanding is there is almost near agreement on a frame work
between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Americans, of course, are behind
these developments," said Ozel. "But the Russian part is more
important because the Russians can block it anytime they want. But i
think it serves their purpose too because Russian and American
relations seem to be on a better track now than they been for quite
some time now. The Russians may wish to be on the right side of
things. Plus give that Turkish-Russian relations are pretty good and
the Russians would like to send their gas and petrol through Turkey to
where ever, that is something that suits them," Ozel added.
Washington has also being using its diplomatic muscle to pressure and
encourage both Ankara and Yerevan to normalize relations.
Still, there is a historical controversy between Armenia and Turkey,
which could yet undermine those attempts.
Yerevan along with much of the international community accuses
Turkey's then Ottoman rulers in 1915 of committing genocide against
its Armenian minority. Ankara strongly denies the charge. The
controversy continues to sour relations and according to political
scientist and newspaper columnist, Nuray Mert, says there is deep
suspicion within the country over the rapprochement.
"This talk of accepting genocide, these are traps or steps in the way
of accepting genocide, or this discourse of genocide is being imposed
in us by great powers, western powers. That's why this opening the
border debate is not a simple question, for anybody. And the political
opposition is using , knowing that it is a very sensitive issue, is
using it against the government so the matter is getting even more
complicated," said Mert.
The coming weeks are now already being described by analysts as
crucial in helping to bring stability to one of the most unstable
regions in the world.
TURKEY, ARMENIA AND THE FRUITS OF GENOCIDE
Rose Pallone
Raffi K. Hovannisian
http://www.asbarez.com/2009/09/28/turkey-armenia-and-the-fruits-of-genocide/
Sep 28, 2009
Governments and commentators have hailed the two recently-announced
protocols between Turkey and Armenia. If signed and ratified, they
will provide a timetable for the opening of the Turkish-Armenian
border and the establishment of full diplomatic relations.
Unfortunately, the exuberance in Western capitals is based on energy
routes, geopolitics and the desire to smooth the way for Turkey as
a regional power and EU aspirant. It ignores the sinister aspects of
the deal.
Certainly, Armenia has long pushed for an end to the Turkish blockade
of Armenia, an open border and diplomatic relations with Turkey without
precondition. This has also been the stated U.S. and European position.
This approach acknowledges that the Armenian-Turkish relationship
is complicated and burdened by the Armenian Genocide. Open borders,
diplomatic relations and people-to-people contacts must come first
before Turkey and Armenia can begin to sort out a very difficult
legacy, issues of restitution and reparations and to what extent
Turkey should continue to enjoy the fruits of genocide.
The proposed protocols, however, will serve to meet two long-standing
Turkish preconditions to normalization of relations with Armenia. The
first is to forestall further progress in formal international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The second is to confirm and
help remove the juridical cloud from the Turkey Armenia frontier.
This frontier, which, under the Turkish blockade, is the last closed
border in Europe, lacks legal status. It is an important issue for
Turkey. The day after the protocols were announced, Turkey's Foreign
Minister stated that recognition of the current boundary was a basic
element of the proposed agreements, without which, "we cannot talk
about being neighbors."
Turkey's strategy to shirk its obligations to Armenia under
international law is to marginalize Armenia and to deny the Genocide,
in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed and the survivors
dispossessed of most of their 3,000 year-old homeland. Turkey uses
its growing strategic and economic power to enlist American and
European support for these initiatives. The offending provisions in
the proposed protocols are part of this process.
Armenia is small, land-locked and vulnerable. It previously resisted
Turkish preconditions to normalization. However, after elections marred
by fraud and political violence, the current Armenian administration
has been susceptible to Turkish, European and American pressure on
this issue. Given the legacy of the Armenian Genocide, European
and American roles in promoting, rather than objecting to, these
preconditions is outrageous.
In the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide, President Woodrow Wilson
fixed Turkey's boundary with Armenia in an arbitral award issued under
U.S. presidential seal. This remains the only binding demarcation of
the Turkish-Armenian frontier in accordance with an agreement between
sovereign and independent Turkish and Armenian states.
Although the de jure border and the award of these territories to
Armenia continue to be legally valid, the 1920 invasion of Armenia
by Kemalist and Bolshevik forces sealed these lands in Turkey and
gave us the current de facto border.
The great irony is that a significant stretch of the energy and
transport routes that are the sources of an emerging Turkish power
pass through these territories, which were also the killing fields
of the Armenian Genocide. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and
the parallel natural gas South Caucasus Pipeline do. So will the
proposed Nabucco pipeline project. These territories and projects,
so vital to Turkey's goal to become a major international energy hub,
are the fruits of genocide. And Armenia enjoys none of their political
and economic benefits.
Sadly, open hatred of Armenians is everywhere in Turkey, in
official and semi-official media, in the state school system, in
state-sanctioned discrimination and elsewhere in and out of government.
Of course, the pinnacle of this hatred is genocide denial, which
genocide scholars tells us constitutes the final stage of genocide. But
consider the Turkish Defense Minister who asks rhetorically whether
the present Turkish nation state would have been possible without
the elimination of the Armenian population or the Turkish President
who charges an opposition Turkish parliamentarian with defamation
for alleging he has Armenian roots. Remember the murder of the
Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, or the planned attacks on
Turkish-Armenian community leaders by Ergenekon, the ultranationalist
organization associated with what in Turkey is referred to as the
"Deep State."
With the demonization of Armenians in Turkish nationalist ideology,
an official policy of genocide denial and Ankara's proven hostility
to the reborn Armenian state, that the West does not actively oppose
Turkish preconditions should give everyone pause.
The enduring legacy of the Armenian Genocide is not just a challenge
for Turkey and Armenia. It is also a challenge for Europe and
America. The West, despite growing Turkish power and influence, should
encourage Turkey to take responsibility for the Armenian Genocide,
not assist Turkey in compelling Armenia to agree to preconditions
that humiliate the victimized party and prejudice the integrity and
outcome of any future genuine reconciliation process between Turkey
and Armenia.
Ultimately, the Turkish-Armenian conversation must include two thorny
issues: first, to what extent Turkey should continue to enjoy the
fruits of genocide and second, the integrity of the border it shares
with Armenia.
Raffi Hovannisian was independent Armenia's first minister of foreign
affairs.
RFE/RL Report
Armenian Americans Divided Over Thaw With Turkey
Armenia -- Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian meets with the
leadership of the Armenian Assembly of America in New York.
01.10.2009
Emil Danielyan
Armenia -- Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian meets with the
leadership of the Armenian Assembly of America in New York.
01.10.2009
Emil Danielyan
The leading Armenian organizations in the United States expressed
conflicting views on Armenia's dramatic rapprochement with Turkey as
President Serzh Sarkisian started on Thursday a week-long
intercontinental visit aimed at addressing Diaspora concerns about the
U.S.-backed process.
Sarkisian will spend the next few days touring major Armenian
communities in France, the United States, Lebanon and Russia and
discussing his conciliatory policy on Turkey with their prominent
members. `I am not going in order to convince them, I am
going to listen to them and tell them what I think,' he told the
presidential Public Council on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued by his office, Sarkisian will first
meet in Paris on Friday with leaders of Armenian community leaders
from France and other European nations. He will then proceed to New
York for similar discussions with representatives of the larger and
more influential Armenian-American community. Among invited to the
meeting are leaders of a U.S. chapter of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), one of the most vocal critics of the
Turkish-Armenian agreements announced on August 31.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Dashnaktsutyun's Central Committee
in the eastern United States said it has accepted the invitation.
`But, let us be clear: We will attend this meeting because we do not
want to forgo an opportunity to voice our strong and uncompromising
opposition to these dangerous protocols,' it said. `We will do so
directly and forthrightly, letting the president know that the
protocols he defends actually betray the national rights of the entire
Armenian Nation: Armenia, the Armenian Diaspora, and Nagorno-Karabakh.'
The statement said Sarkisian's charm offensive is `not only late but
lacking in political and moral sincerity' as both Yerevan and Ankara
have made clear that they will sign the two fence-mending protocols
without any changes whatever the outcome of the ongoing debates in
both countries. It also reiterated Dashnaktsutyun's arguments against
a deal which the nationalist party says will make it harder for the
Diaspora to gain greater international recognition of the Armenian
genocide. `The protocols will satisfy the articulated aims of today's
Turkish government to silence the enduring and still unanswered
`Armenian Question,'' the statement said.
The Dashnaktsutyun-controlled Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) is one of the two main Armenian groups that have for decades
been lobbying the U.S. Congress to pass a formal genocide resolution.
The other, more moderate group, the Armenian Assembly of America, has
been far more supportive of the thaw in Armenia's relations with its
historical foe.
The Assembly joined on Thursday the Diaspora's largest charity, the
Armenian General Benevolent Union, as well as two U.S. dioceses of the
Armenian Apostolic Church in issuing a statement that welcomed
Sarkisian's policy and the controversial agreements in particular.
`The protocols announced on August 31st represent a marked change from
the past,' they said. `Turkey has now publicly committed to establish
normal relations without preconditions, and the process has yielded
remarkable progress.'
`The path ahead will not be easy and will undoubtedly involve new
twists and turns along the way. That makes it all the more important
to understand that this is not the time to advance other agendas at
the expense of Armenia's future,' the statement added in a thinly
veiled attack on Dashnaktsutyun. `At this critical moment, we believe
that the President of Armenia deserves our support.'
The Dashnaktsutyun statement deplored such views, claiming that they
are not shared by the majority of an estimated one million Americans
of Armenian descent. `We consider it likely that -- for whatever
reason -- this minority will continue to maintain that unjustified
position,' it said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
conflicting views on Armenia's dramatic rapprochement with Turkey as
President Serzh Sarkisian started on Thursday a week-long
intercontinental visit aimed at addressing Diaspora concerns about the
U.S.-backed process.
Sarkisian will spend the next few days touring major Armenian
communities in France, the United States, Lebanon and Russia and
discussing his conciliatory policy on Turkey with their prominent
members. `I am not going in order to convince them, I am
going to listen to them and tell them what I think,' he told the
presidential Public Council on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued by his office, Sarkisian will first
meet in Paris on Friday with leaders of Armenian community leaders
from France and other European nations. He will then proceed to New
York for similar discussions with representatives of the larger and
more influential Armenian-American community. Among invited to the
meeting are leaders of a U.S. chapter of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), one of the most vocal critics of the
Turkish-Armenian agreements announced on August 31.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Dashnaktsutyun's Central Committee
in the eastern United States said it has accepted the invitation.
`But, let us be clear: We will attend this meeting because we do not
want to forgo an opportunity to voice our strong and uncompromising
opposition to these dangerous protocols,' it said. `We will do so
directly and forthrightly, letting the president know that the
protocols he defends actually betray the national rights of the entire
Armenian Nation: Armenia, the Armenian Diaspora, and Nagorno-Karabakh.'
The statement said Sarkisian's charm offensive is `not only late but
lacking in political and moral sincerity' as both Yerevan and Ankara
have made clear that they will sign the two fence-mending protocols
without any changes whatever the outcome of the ongoing debates in
both countries. It also reiterated Dashnaktsutyun's arguments against
a deal which the nationalist party says will make it harder for the
Diaspora to gain greater international recognition of the Armenian
genocide. `The protocols will satisfy the articulated aims of today's
Turkish government to silence the enduring and still unanswered
`Armenian Question,'' the statement said.
The Dashnaktsutyun-controlled Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) is one of the two main Armenian groups that have for decades
been lobbying the U.S. Congress to pass a formal genocide resolution.
The other, more moderate group, the Armenian Assembly of America, has
been far more supportive of the thaw in Armenia's relations with its
historical foe.
The Assembly joined on Thursday the Diaspora's largest charity, the
Armenian General Benevolent Union, as well as two U.S. dioceses of the
Armenian Apostolic Church in issuing a statement that welcomed
Sarkisian's policy and the controversial agreements in particular.
`The protocols announced on August 31st represent a marked change from
the past,' they said. `Turkey has now publicly committed to establish
normal relations without preconditions, and the process has yielded
remarkable progress.'
`The path ahead will not be easy and will undoubtedly involve new
twists and turns along the way. That makes it all the more important
to understand that this is not the time to advance other agendas at
the expense of Armenia's future,' the statement added in a thinly
veiled attack on Dashnaktsutyun. `At this critical moment, we believe
that the President of Armenia deserves our support.'
The Dashnaktsutyun statement deplored such views, claiming that they
are not shared by the majority of an estimated one million Americans
of Armenian descent. `We consider it likely that -- for whatever
reason -- this minority will continue to maintain that unjustified
position,' it said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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