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ACNIS Holds Roundtable Discussion on Armenian-Turkish Diplomacy

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  • ACNIS Holds Roundtable Discussion on Armenian-Turkish Diplomacy

    PRESS RELEASE
    Armenian Center for National and International Studies
    75 Yerznkian Street
    Yerevan 0033, Armenia
    Tel: (+374 - 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
    Fax: (+374 - 10) 52.48.46
    Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
    Website: www.acnis.am


    November 5, 2009


    ACNIS Holds Roundtable Discussion on Armenian-Turkish Diplomacy &
    Nagorno Karabagh: `Deal or No Deal?'


    Yerevan--The Armenian Center for National and International Studies
    (ACNIS) convened a roundtable discussion today entitled
    `Armenian-Turkish Diplomacy & Nagorno Karabagh: `Deal or No Deal?'
    that assessed recent developments between the two issues.

    The event was attended by several ambassadors and senior diplomatic
    officials from the European Commission, the European Union's Special
    Representative for the South Caucasus, the Council of Europe and the
    Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as
    staff from the British and U.S. embassies, and the Armenian Ministry
    of Defense.

    After welcoming the nearly sixty participants, ACNIS Director of
    Administration Dr. Karapet Kalenchian presented a brief introduction
    of the issues of Armenian-Turkish diplomacy and the Nagorno Karabagh
    conflict, which he said `demonstrated the significance of discussing
    and analyzing the security and increasing political independence of
    Karabagh.' Dr. Kalenchian added that the `current dynamic situation
    was a challenge of national importance for Armenia and Karabagh, while
    also serving as a test for Turkey.'

    ACNIS Senior Analyst Manvel Sargsyan presented his analysis of the
    `looming ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols' that were
    signed on October 10 by noting that `Turkish attention to the Nagorno
    Karabagh issue has rapidly expanded,' adding that `Turkey continues to
    coordinate the ratification of protocols in terms of progress over the
    Karabagh issue,' but stressed that `Armenia and the international
    community must not succumb to this pressure.' Sargsyan went on to say
    that `Turkey may now exert a serious impact on the configuration of
    the future political processes in the region.'

    According to Sargsyan, `even today there is à clear problem of a
    deterioration of relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan,' which he
    said `without any doubt, may reflect developments in the international
    situation regarding the Nagorno Karabagh issue.' He added that the
    `conflict situation, in fact, has adopted a role as a stimulant for
    political configurations in the region' and that `within Karabagh
    there is a strong opinion over the inadmissibility of territorial
    compromises to Azerbaijan and, of course, over any resolution of the
    Karabagh conflict based on the Madrid principles.'

    ACNIS Director Richard Giragosian then presented an assessment of
    recent developments since the signing of the protocols, which he
    argued has `initiated a new stage of Armenian-Turkish diplomacy,
    marked by a number of tests by the Turkish side aimed at challenging
    Armenian resolve.' Giragosian explained that `this new stage, moving
    beyond the protocols to the parliaments, presents a new set of
    challenges, as Turkey continues to make strong statements that may
    actually endanger the process of parliamentary ratification.' More
    specifically, he said that `the rhetoric and threats from the Turkish
    side, especially over new demands for progress over the Nagorno
    Karabagh issue, suggests that the passage of the protocols by the
    Turkish parliament will not be easy.'

    Citing the fact that the Turkish side, at least publicly, still seeks
    to re-connect the Karabagh issue to the Turkish-Armenian normalization
    process, Giragosian stated that `this poses a serious obstacle' and
    stressed that `such a connection is unacceptable and clearly, it is
    too late and too dangerous to try to re-connect the Karabagh issue to
    the process at this stage.' He then explained that `the Karabagh
    issue was removed from the protocols and it should not be seen as any
    sort of precondition or prerequisite.'

    The ACNIS Director went on to say that `this issue of `normalization'
    must be seen in the proper perspective, as any move by Turkey to
    reopen the border and extend diplomatic relations with Armenia
    represents only the bare minimum of expectations of normal countries,
    meaning that Turkey should not be unduly praised or rewarded (for such
    moves).' And `the real burden,' he said, `rests more with the Turkish
    side, as it was Turkey that closed its border with Armenia in 1993 and
    withheld diplomatic relations in support of Azerbaijan over Karabagh,
    and, most crucially, it is Turkey that remains challenged by the need
    to face the historic legacy of the Armenian genocide.'

    He then closed with an argument for `a more realistic approach to the
    Nagorno Karabagh issue,' based on a `recognition of the fact that the
    omission of any reference to the Nagorno Karabagh issue in the
    protocols means that there is no direct linkage between the Karabagh
    peace talks and the current Armenian-Turkish effort to `normalize'
    relations.' The Karabagh talks, he explained, are `on a separate
    `second track' of diplomacy moving at a much slower speed and driven
    by a very different set of issues than the `first track' of
    Armenian-Turkish diplomacy.'

    Giragosian added that `there were other important lessons,' including
    the fact that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
    Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, which is the lead mediator of the
    Karabagh conflict, is `structurally flawed by the absence of the
    democratically-elected representatives of the Nagorno Karabagh
    Republic (NKR) which, as a direct party to the conflict, must be
    afforded a direct and formal role in the peace process.' Moreover, he
    said, `the failure to incorporate Karabagh in the peace talks as a
    party of equal standing only questions the viability of reaching a
    negotiated resolution capable of meeting the minimum standards of
    security and sustainability.' Giragosian closed by noting that `the
    recognition of the role of the OSCE Minsk Group as the mediator of the
    Karabagh conflict also means that Turkey can have no direct role in
    the peace process and should not be accepted as a neutral broker or
    mediator of the Karabagh conflict.'

    The two presentations were then followed by a series of questions and
    answers, and featured a lively exchange among Armenian
    parliamentarians, leading Armenian analysts, experts and journalists.
    The presentations are available upon request by contacting ACNIS or
    can be freely downloaded from the Center's website (www.acnis.am).

    --------------------------------- ------------------------------------

    The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS) is
    a leading independent strategic research center located in Yerevan,
    Armenia. As an independent, objective institution committed to
    conducting professional policy research and analysis, ACNIS strives to
    raise the level of public debate and seeks to broaden public
    engagement in the public policy process, as well as fostering greater
    and more inclusive public knowledge. Founded in 1994, ACNIS is the
    institutional initiative of Raffi K. Hovannisian, Armenia's first
    Minister of Foreign Affairs. Over the past fifteen years, ACNIS has
    acquired a prominent reputation as a primary source of professional
    independent research and analysis covering a wide range of national
    and international policy issues.

    For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or
    27-48-18; fax (37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected];
    or visit www.acnis.am
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