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NALBANDIAN SLAMS TURKISH PRECONDITIONS; SAYS JEOPARDIZING NEGOTIATIONS
www.asbarez.com/index.html?showartic le=41185_4/6/2009_1
Monday, April 6, 2009
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian accused
Turkey of jeopardizing the normalization of its strained relations
with Armenia before flying to Istanbul late Monday for potentially
decisive talks with Turkish officials.
The official purpose of Nalbandian's two-day trip is to participate
in the UN-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations summit. He is expected
to meet his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, for further talks aimed
at ending long-running tensions between the two neighboring states.
Nalbandian was due to arrive in Istanbul on Sunday night. But the
flight was canceled minutes before departure with the Foreign
Minister issuing an announcement over his growing concern that
Turkey is steering negotiations between the two countries in an
untenable direction by hinging relations on a normalization of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Ankara and Yerevan are reportedly close to reaching an agreement on
a gradual establishment of diplomatic relations and reopening of the
Turkish-Armenian border. Some Turkish newspapers have said the deal
could be announced during or shortly after Nalbandian's upcoming visit.
However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday
that this cannot happen before a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. "As long as the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue is not resolved, it is not possible for us to reach a healthy
solution concerning Armenia," he told a news conference in London,
according to Reuters.
In a written statement issued on Sunday, Nalbandian said that the
unresolved Karabakh conflict has not been on the agenda of the ongoing
Turkish-Armenian negotiations, implying that Ankara stopped using it
as a precondition when it embarked on the unprecedented dialogue with
Yerevan last year.
"I believe that the statements, which put forth preconditions for
the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, may be regarded
as an attempt to impede the progress reached in the negotiations,"
he said in reference to Erdogan's remarks.
The remarks followed Azerbaijan's stark warnings to Turkey not to
normalize ties with Armenia before a Karabakh settlement. Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev reportedly cancelled his scheduled participation
in the Istanbul forum in protest against such prospect.
In his statement, Nalbandian also said that Ankara must not use
its rapprochement with Yerevan for preventing greater international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. "It has been said many times, and
I want to stress it again, that the normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations can never question the reality of Armenian Genocide,"
he said.
Nalbandian's visit to Turkey coincides with U.S. President Barack
Obama's official visit to the predominantly Muslim NATO country. On his
trip, Obama stopped short of using the word "Genocide" but on several
occasions, most notably in his speech at the Turkish parliament,
he stressed that his views had not changed.
www.asbarez.com/index.html?showartic le=41185_4/6/2009_1
Monday, April 6, 2009
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian accused
Turkey of jeopardizing the normalization of its strained relations
with Armenia before flying to Istanbul late Monday for potentially
decisive talks with Turkish officials.
The official purpose of Nalbandian's two-day trip is to participate
in the UN-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations summit. He is expected
to meet his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, for further talks aimed
at ending long-running tensions between the two neighboring states.
Nalbandian was due to arrive in Istanbul on Sunday night. But the
flight was canceled minutes before departure with the Foreign
Minister issuing an announcement over his growing concern that
Turkey is steering negotiations between the two countries in an
untenable direction by hinging relations on a normalization of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Ankara and Yerevan are reportedly close to reaching an agreement on
a gradual establishment of diplomatic relations and reopening of the
Turkish-Armenian border. Some Turkish newspapers have said the deal
could be announced during or shortly after Nalbandian's upcoming visit.
However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday
that this cannot happen before a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. "As long as the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue is not resolved, it is not possible for us to reach a healthy
solution concerning Armenia," he told a news conference in London,
according to Reuters.
In a written statement issued on Sunday, Nalbandian said that the
unresolved Karabakh conflict has not been on the agenda of the ongoing
Turkish-Armenian negotiations, implying that Ankara stopped using it
as a precondition when it embarked on the unprecedented dialogue with
Yerevan last year.
"I believe that the statements, which put forth preconditions for
the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, may be regarded
as an attempt to impede the progress reached in the negotiations,"
he said in reference to Erdogan's remarks.
The remarks followed Azerbaijan's stark warnings to Turkey not to
normalize ties with Armenia before a Karabakh settlement. Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev reportedly cancelled his scheduled participation
in the Istanbul forum in protest against such prospect.
In his statement, Nalbandian also said that Ankara must not use
its rapprochement with Yerevan for preventing greater international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. "It has been said many times, and
I want to stress it again, that the normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations can never question the reality of Armenian Genocide,"
he said.
Nalbandian's visit to Turkey coincides with U.S. President Barack
Obama's official visit to the predominantly Muslim NATO country. On his
trip, Obama stopped short of using the word "Genocide" but on several
occasions, most notably in his speech at the Turkish parliament,
he stressed that his views had not changed.