Developments in Armenia's relations with its neighbours

Sarkisian Signals Support For Turkish Genocide Proposal
By Emil Danielyan

Signaling a policy shift, President Serzh Sarkisian confirmed Thursday
that he is ready to accept, in principle, Turkey's proposal to form a
commission of Armenian and Turkish historians that would examine the
1915 mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

But he made clear through a spokesman that such a commission should be
created only after Turkey agrees to unconditionally establish diplomatic
relations and open its border with Armenia.

The proposal was formally made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan in a 2005 letter to then Armenian President Robert Kocharian.
Erdogan suggested that the would-be commission determine whether the
Armenian massacres constituted genocide and said his government would
accept any conclusion reached by it.

In a written reply, Kocharian effectively rejected the idea and came up
with a counterproposal to set up a Turkish-Armenian intergovernmental
commission that would deal with this and other issues of mutual concern.
Other Armenian officials, backed by local and Diaspora scholars,
dismissed Erdogan's move as a Turkish ploy designed to scuttle
international recognition of the Armenian genocide. They also said that
by agreeing to the proposed study the Armenian side would question the
very fact of the genocide.

`We are not against the creation of such a commission, but only if the
border between our countries is opened,' Sarkisian declared during a
visit to Moscow earlier this week.

Sarkisian's press secretary, Samvel Farmanian, reaffirmed this in a
statement issued on Thursday. `We are not against any study of even
obvious facts and widely accepted realities,' he said. `Agreeing to a
study does not mean casting doubt on the veracity of facts.

`However, the creation of such a commission would be logical only after
the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of the border
between our countries. Otherwise, it could become a tool for dragging
out and exploiting the existing problems.'

Farmanian's statement came amid an uproar from the country's main
opposition alliance led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian. In a
statement on Wednesday, Ter-Petrosian's Popular Movement condemned
Sarkisian's `dangerous' remarks, saying that the new Armenian leader has
agreed to a proposal `calling into question the fact of the Genocide.'

Farmanian rejected the opposition claims. `It is strange that the
genocide issue is being exploited by individuals who had done everything
in the past to condemn that tragic page of our history to oblivion,' he
said in a jibe at Ter-Petrosian's more conciliatory line on Turkey.

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ARMENIAN PRESIDENT PLANS TO INVITE GUL TO WORLD CUP QUALIFYING MATCH
Today's Zaman
June 26 2008
Turkey

Serzh Sarkisian, the president of Turkey's estranged neighbor,
Armenia, has said he plans to invite Turkish President Abdullah Gul
to Yerevan to watch a soccer match together between the two countries'
national teams.

"I intend to take new steps toward establishing relations with
Turkey. I will probably invite Turkish President Gul to Yerevan
to attend a soccer match between the Armenian and Turkish national
teams," Sarkisian, who was sworn into office in April, was quoted as
saying by Armenian media earlier this week at a meeting with members
of Moscow's Armenian community.

In November, Turkey was pitted against Spain, Belgium, Bosnia, Armenia
and Estonia in group five of the European qualifying competition
for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. Armenian media said
that the Armenian and Turkish national teams would play a match in
September in Yerevan.

While there was no official response to reports on Sarkisian's remarks
in Ankara, a senior US diplomat has welcomed them in Washington.

"It's an amazing development. Both leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
seem to be pragmatic, practical and ready to explore each sides needs
when it comes to a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement," Matt Bryza, deputy
assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told
reporters. Armenia's position on the establishment of relations with
Turkey is exact, and there can be a closed border between neighbor
states in the 21st century, Sarkisian also said.

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Genocide Recognition `Still On Armenia Foreign Policy Agenda'
By Ruben Meloyan

Armenia will continue to seek international recognition of the 1915
Armenian genocide despite its readiness to agree to the creation of a
Turkish-Armenian commission of historians that would study the highly
sensitive subject, Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian said on Friday.

The idea of setting up such a commission was floated by Turkey's Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a 2005 letter to then Armenian
President Robert Kocharian. Erdogan said its members should jointly
determine whether the mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire constituted a genocide.

Kocharian effectively rejected the idea by making a counterproposal to
set up a Turkish-Armenian intergovernmental body that would deal with
this and other issues of mutual concern.

In an apparent policy change, his successor, Serzh Sarkisian, indicated
this week that Yerevan is now `not against' the Turkish proposal. But he
made clear that the commission of historians can be set up only if
Turkey agrees to unconditionally normalize relations with Armenia.

In Nalbandian's words, this does not mean that Armenia will no longer
encourage and endorse efforts by the worldwide Armenian Diaspora to have
foreign governments and parliaments recognize the slaughter of more than
one million Ottoman Armenians as genocide. `The genocide issue remains
on our agenda,' he said.

Turkey has cited Yerevan's support for the genocide recognition campaign
as one of the reasons why it keeps its border with Armenia closed and
refuses to establish diplomatic relations with the latter. Ankara
maintains that the 1915-1918 mass killings occurred on a much smaller
scale and were not part of a premeditated government effort to
exterminate the Ottoman Empire's Armenian minority.

`Armenia has repeatedly stated and continues to state that we are ready
to establish relations with Turkey without any preconditions,' said
Nalbandian. `We are also ready to discuss all issues of interest to the
two countries after the establishment of diplomatic relations and
opening of the border.'

Nalbandian spoke at a joint news conference with Switzerland's visiting
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey. Switzerland is one of nearly two
dozen nations that have officially recognized the Armenian massacres as
genocide.

The Swiss federal parliament adopted a relevant resolution in December
2003, two months after the Turkish government angrily called off
Calmy-Rey's planned visit to Ankara in protest against a similar
document passed by the Swiss canton of Vaud. The visit eventually took
place in March 2005, with Calmy-Rey publicly urging Turkey to `conduct
an in-depth historical research of its own past, especially when the
question is so painful.'

The Swiss minister said on Friday that her country stands ready to
mediate a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement. `Switzerland is always ready
to play the role of a facilitator if it is asked to by the parties,' she said.

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ARMENIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT IS PUZZLED IN VIEW OF RA PRESIDENT'S

STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN- TURKISH RELATIONS
ArmInfo
2008-06-26 11:30:00

The Armenian National Movement, headed by the first President of
Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan, spread a statement today expressing
bewilderment in view of the statements of RA President Serzh Sargsyan
made in Moscow on June 23 concerning the Armenian-Turkish relations.

To recall, RA President Serzh Sargsyan said on June 23 at the meeting
with representatives of the Armenian community of Moscow that he
is going to invite his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul to the
football match in Yerevan. S. Sargsyan emphasized unambiguousness
of Armenia's position according to which "there should be no closed
borders between the neighbouring countries in 21 Century". However,
having recalled that the Turkish party offers to form a commission to
study the historical facts, RA president said that Yerevan does not
object to creation of such a commission "but after the borders between
our states are open, otherwise, it may become a way of speculation
by this problem".

The Armenian National Movement's statement, received by ArmInfo today,
says that S. Sargsyan has become the first president of Armenia who
officially agreed to Turkey's proposal to question the fact of the
Genocide. We condemn this dangerous statement of S. Sargsyan which will
be undoubtedly responded by the people of Armenia and the Armenians
of the whole world>, the statement says.

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AZERBAIJAN SHOWS OFF MILITARY MIGHT TO FOE ARMENIA
Afet Mehtiyeva
Reuters
June 26 2008
UK

BAKU, June 26 (Reuters) - Ex-Soviet Azerbaijan staged its first
military parade in 16 years on Thursday in a show of strength
aimed partly at Armenia, its neighbour with which it is locked in a
territorial dispute.

Armenian forces took control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region,
internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, in a war in the
1990s. Azerbaijan says it reserves the right to restore its control
by force if peace talks fail.

A resumption of hostilities could disrupt oil supplies from Azerbaijan,
which exports about 700,000 barrels of oil a day to world markets,
most of it via a pipeline operated by a BP-led (BP.L: Quote, Profile,
Research, Stock Buzz) international consortium.

Troops, multiple rocket launch systems, armoured personnel carriers,
tanks and unmanned reconnaissance planes were paraded in front of
the Soviet-built government headquarters in the capital Baku, watched
over by President Ilham Aliyev.

Attack helicopters, bombers and fighter jets later flew in formation
past the building on the shores of the Caspian Sea, in a parade that
lasted over an hour.

Much of the equipment on show was Soviet-designed but there was also
Western gear and troops were fitted out in NATO-style uniforms --
part of a modernisation of the armed forces funded with a ten-fold
rise in defence spending since 2003.

"The international community is worried by our policy in this area
and places the emphasis on this," Aliyev, who succeeded his father
as president in a 2003 election, said in a speech at the parade.

"But Azerbaijan continues to live in a state of war and is trying to
resolve the Karabakh issue," he said. "We are continuing negotiations
with Armenia, but they have been going on for a very long time and
the people are tired of them. They cannot go on for ever."

The war over Nagorno-Karabakh killed about 35,000 people and forced
over a million to leave their homes. Many of them are still living
as refugees.

The region, and several Azeri districts around it, are now run by
ethnic Armenian separatists with support from Armenia. No state
recognises Nagorno-Karabakh's split from Azerbaijan.

Though a fragile ceasefire is in force, the two sides have never signed
a peace deal to formally end the war, and their armies are locked in
a tense stand-off. Soldiers are frequently killed in skirmishes.

Talks mediated by envoys from France, Russia and the United States
have failed to produce a peace agreement.

Aliyev said at the parade Azerbaijan's annual defence spending was
now $2 billion. He said the increase was in line with an overall
growth in state spending in Azerbaijan, which has one of the world's
fastest-growing economies.

Zardusht Alizade, a political analyst with ties to Azerbaijan's
opposition, said the government's threats to use force against Armenian
forces were not credible.

"The authorities have no intention of liberating Nagorno-Karabakh,"
he told Reuters. "If they had, their current internal and domestic
policies would be different."

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