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  • We Never Do Anything Aimlessly

    WE NEVER DO ANYTHING AIMLESSLY
    Lilit Poghosyan

    Hayots Ashkhar Daily
    04 Dec 08
    Armenia

    During his recent visit to Baku, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babajan
    once again calmed down his Azeri brothers, saying that the task of
    liberating Karabakh and its surrounding areas from the "Armenian
    occupation" was a matter to be dealt with not only by Turkey but also
    Azerbaijan and that his country has been standing by Azerbaijan since
    1918 and will always stand by it in future. Isn't Armenia playing into
    the hands of Turkey which is pretending to conduct an Armenian-Turkish
    dialogue in an attempt to cheat Europe?

    In response to our questions, EDWARD SHARMAZANOV, member of the RPA
    parliamentary faction presents his comments.

    "Armenia and the Armenian authorities play their own game which is in
    the interests of the nation and the state. This is a fact. President
    Serge Sargsyan's recent initiatory policy enshrined in his pre-election
    program is aimed at that.

    As regards Turkey's partial approach, I don't think the fact that
    the Turkish Government has always been standing by Azerbaijan since
    1918 (when Azerbaijan was formed as an independent state unit) is
    something new for anyone. And the Government of Turkey was the first
    to voice protests in different international conferences, claiming
    that Karabakh form part of Azerbaijan or remain under its control.

    There are a lot of books, as well as scientific articles. In
    particular, Head of the Genocide Museum Hayk Demoyan has done serious
    research in that field, giving detailed description of Turkey's
    military, financial, economic and political assistance to Azerbaijan.

    But nonetheless, we live in this region, and whether or not we want
    it, Turkey is our neighbor; so we must try to settle the problematic
    questions between our countries. And to do that, it is first of all
    necessary to have diplomatic relations."

    "But the Turkish side has not given up its traditional approach of
    establishing a relationship with preconditions. Don't the bilateral
    or trilateral negotiations in the Turkey-Azerbaijan-Armenia format
    become aimless in view of this fact?"

    "We never do anything aimlessly. I think the goal is very clear. That
    is, to have normal relations with the neighboring countries, including
    those with which we have serious problems. And let's note that this
    approach is also enshrined in the National Security Strategy.

    If, in the 21st century, we have adopted democratic reforms and are
    guided by the rules of a civilized game, then there is no alternative
    to the Armenian party's attitude expressed by President Serge Sargsyan
    who proposed the Turkish side to establish diplomatic ties without
    any preconditions.

    The establishment of diplomatic ties without preconditions doesn't mean
    to forget about the recognition of the Genocide or make unilateral
    concessions with regard to the Karabakh issue. No. Both President
    Serge Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan have many a
    time announced that the Armenia-Turkish relations should be regulated
    without any preconditions.

    Naturally, both the international recognition of the Genocide and
    the pro-Armenian settlement of the Karabakh conflict remain in the
    foreign policy agenda."
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