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ISTANBUL: US meetings reinvigorate Turkish-Armenian reconciliation

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  • ISTANBUL: US meetings reinvigorate Turkish-Armenian reconciliation

    Today's Zaman, Turkey
    April 18 2010


    US meetings reinvigorate Turkish-Armenian reconciliation


    The Turkish leadership has received much praise from around the world
    for its attempts to rescue Turkish-Armenian reconciliation efforts,
    which have entered their death throes, in Washington this week.

    The primary obstacle to the peace talks moving forward is their being
    conditioned on the resolution of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh
    conflict. Turkey set the conflict as a precondition to ratifying the
    protocols on the normalization of relations and establishing
    diplomatic ties between it and Armenia -- a move Armenia vehemently
    rejected with the assertion that it is stifling the whole process.
    The Turkish-Armenian rapprochement talks are being conducted
    confidentially, including their Washington chapter, leading to scant
    media coverage on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, which
    took place on April 12-13.

    `There are renewed expectations of hope that the process of
    Turkish-Armenian `normalization' is back on track,' Richard
    Giragosian, director of the Armenian Center for National and
    International Studies (ACNIS), told Sunday's Zaman, adding that the
    meeting represented the `last chance' to salvage the stalled
    Turkish-Armenian protocols, which became deadlocked since the
    beginning of this year. Noting that although the specific results from
    the Washington meetings have yet to be released, the expert said many
    see signs that the foreign ministers of both countries are now working
    to find a way around the stalled protocols and are struggling to find
    a new alternative path to overcome the deadlocked protocols, which are
    now virtually stuck in the Turkish Parliament.

    Speaking to Sunday's Zaman, Efe Ã?aman from Yalova University said
    problems between Turkey and Armenia are not acute but chronic. For
    this reason, he said, it is not correct to wait to achieve a lasting
    solution in a short period. `First of all, there are efforts to
    complete confidence-building measures. At this point, Turkey is an
    important actor both in economic and geopolitical terms that Armenia
    cannot ignore,' Ã?aman said.

    Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) Director Mensur Akgün said in an
    interview with Sunday's Zaman that he believes the meeting in the US
    may in fact untangle the reconciliation knot. He said he believes the
    three countries involved -- Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan -- will all
    benefit from the current situation.

    Noting that the government's job is truly difficult in this sense,
    Ã?aman said regardless of this, to gain a tool, Turkey needs to
    partially open the Turkish-Armenian border and gain an opportunity to
    use the carrot-and-stick tactic in its foreign policy. As there is
    nothing for Armenia to lose in this status quo, he stressed, Turkey
    does not have any sanctions (stick).

    Speaking about Sarksyan's statements, Akgün said he understands his
    position, adding that these steps may increase the chances of the US
    president terming the Ottoman-era killings of Armenians as genocide,
    which is a risk for the Armenian president.

    Another leg of the so-called genocide-protocols-Karabakh triangle is
    Azerbaijan's opposition. It was not invited to the nuclear summit, and
    its reaction was furious. Noting that DavutoÄ?lu will soon visit Baku,
    Akgün said the trip will also serve to lessen Azerbaijan's opposition.

    He also claimed that in line with the ever-changing nature of
    politics, Turkey may alter its promise to include the Nagorno-Karabakh
    precondition. Pointing to ongoing negotiations between Armenia and
    Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory, Akgün said
    the sides have agreed on most terms of the Madrid Principles to solve
    the conflict. `But normalization between Turkey and Armenia needs to
    move forward even in if there is no breakthrough in Karabakh. If they
    never make peace between each other, Turkey and Armenia will not be
    able to maintain the status quo forever, either,' Akgün concluded.

    And in some ways, Giragosian said, it was actually helpful that
    Azerbaijan was not invited to the recent summit in Washington,
    ensuring that Baku could not bring unwelcome pressure on Ankara at
    this delicate stage. `This is not to say that Turkey is ignoring
    Azerbaijani interests, but rather is pursuing a new policy of
    engagement with Armenia that is now based on Turkish national
    interests, not simply to please the Americans and not to appease the
    Azerbaijanis,' the expert said. Noting that the whole process of
    normalization with Armenia has been driven by Turkey's recognition of
    the need to correct a failed policy, Giragosian said closed borders
    and a lack of diplomatic relations is not a policy and that Turkey
    needs more, not fewer options regarding Armenia and the region.



    18 April 2010, Sunday
    MAHÄ°R ZEYNALOV Ä°STANBUL
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