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Reuters
April 24 2010
Armenians mark WWI killings, ties with neighbors fray
Matt Robinson and Hasmik Lazarian
YEREVAN
Thu, Apr 22 2010 YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenia marked the 95th
anniversary Saturday of the World War One killing of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks, against a backdrop of failed peace with Turkey and
fresh saber-rattling with enemy Azerbaijan.
A deal between Turkey and Armenia to establish diplomatic ties and
reopen their border collapsed Thursday when Armenia suspended
ratification over Turkish demands it first make peace with Azerbaijan
over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The roadmap was crafted to overcome a century of hostility since the
massacres and deportations of World War One, marked on Saturday by a
stream of thousands laying red tulips and white carnations at a
hilltop monument in the Armenian capital.
But its failure has only fueled further mistrust in the volatile South
Caucasus.
Key to its collapse has been a backlash in Azerbaijan, a close Muslim
ally of Turkey and oil and gas exporter to the West, that diplomats
say has forced Turkey to backtrack.
Azerbaijan branded the deal a betrayal of efforts to negotiate a
solution to Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians backed by
Christian Armenia threw off Azeri rule in the early 1990s in a war
that killed 30,000 people.
Turkey closed its frontier with Armenia in solidarity with Azerbaijan
during the war. Some analysts are skeptical whether the collapse of
the Turkey-Armenia deal will do much to allay Azeri suspicions.
Azerbaijan has threatened war in the past to take back the mountain
enclave, but the rhetoric has sharpened since Armenia and Turkey
announced their rapprochement a year ago with the backing of the U.S.,
Russia and the European Union.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan used the anniversary to
reiterate Ankara's position that peace with Armenia depends on Armenia
first reaching terms with Azerbaijan.
"The peace protocols (between Turkey and Armenia) will not go into
effect before peace is established between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We
have conveyed this very clearly to (Armenian President Serzh)
Sarkysan," Erdogan said in a statement.
President Barack Obama, in a statement to commemorate the events,
called the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks "one of the worst
atrocities of the 20th century, but avoided any mention of "genocide."
Obama said that he was "encouraged by the dialogue among Turks and
Armenians, and within Turkey itself, regarding this painful history."
NEW ANIMOSITY
Friday, Azeri Defense Minister Safar Abiyev said his army was ready to
"hit any target on the territory of Armenia," if given the order.
In response, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said Saturday
that Yerevan wanted to resolve the issue peacefully, but added: "If
Azerbaijan tries use force against our people, that will impact very
badly on Azerbaijan, it will result in a very desperate situation,
because we have another advantage in that we are defending our
homeland."
Animosity was on display as Armenians commemorated the World War One
killings, a defining element of Armenian national identity that is
recognized as genocide by a number of foreign states and Western
historians.
Turkey rejects the term and denies that up to 1.5 million Armenians
died. It says many Muslim Turks and Kurds, as well as Christian
Armenians, were killed in inter-communal violence as Russian forces
invaded eastern Anatolia during World War One.
"Turkey and Azerbaijan will always be our enemies," said 22- year-old
graduate Grigor Kafalian, an Armenian born in Lebanon, as he attended
a march of several thousand through Yerevan late Friday to demand
Turkey recognize the massacres as genocide.
Armenians around the world marked the anniversary. In Lebanon,
thousands gathered in the capital Beirut, some carrying banners that
read: "Turkey, the black file of justice" and "Impunity for Turkey
nurtures culture of violence."
Tens of thousands more flocked to the hilltop monument in Yerevan --
twelve shields of grey basalt, leaning inwards toward a flame set in a
sunken bowl.
"Our president did everything to fix relations, but now it's up to
Turkey," said Alush Vartanyan, 48.
(Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Beirut and by Tulay Karadeniz
in Ankara; Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Noah Barkin)
April 24 2010
Armenians mark WWI killings, ties with neighbors fray
Matt Robinson and Hasmik Lazarian
YEREVAN
Thu, Apr 22 2010 YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenia marked the 95th
anniversary Saturday of the World War One killing of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks, against a backdrop of failed peace with Turkey and
fresh saber-rattling with enemy Azerbaijan.
A deal between Turkey and Armenia to establish diplomatic ties and
reopen their border collapsed Thursday when Armenia suspended
ratification over Turkish demands it first make peace with Azerbaijan
over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The roadmap was crafted to overcome a century of hostility since the
massacres and deportations of World War One, marked on Saturday by a
stream of thousands laying red tulips and white carnations at a
hilltop monument in the Armenian capital.
But its failure has only fueled further mistrust in the volatile South
Caucasus.
Key to its collapse has been a backlash in Azerbaijan, a close Muslim
ally of Turkey and oil and gas exporter to the West, that diplomats
say has forced Turkey to backtrack.
Azerbaijan branded the deal a betrayal of efforts to negotiate a
solution to Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians backed by
Christian Armenia threw off Azeri rule in the early 1990s in a war
that killed 30,000 people.
Turkey closed its frontier with Armenia in solidarity with Azerbaijan
during the war. Some analysts are skeptical whether the collapse of
the Turkey-Armenia deal will do much to allay Azeri suspicions.
Azerbaijan has threatened war in the past to take back the mountain
enclave, but the rhetoric has sharpened since Armenia and Turkey
announced their rapprochement a year ago with the backing of the U.S.,
Russia and the European Union.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan used the anniversary to
reiterate Ankara's position that peace with Armenia depends on Armenia
first reaching terms with Azerbaijan.
"The peace protocols (between Turkey and Armenia) will not go into
effect before peace is established between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We
have conveyed this very clearly to (Armenian President Serzh)
Sarkysan," Erdogan said in a statement.
President Barack Obama, in a statement to commemorate the events,
called the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks "one of the worst
atrocities of the 20th century, but avoided any mention of "genocide."
Obama said that he was "encouraged by the dialogue among Turks and
Armenians, and within Turkey itself, regarding this painful history."
NEW ANIMOSITY
Friday, Azeri Defense Minister Safar Abiyev said his army was ready to
"hit any target on the territory of Armenia," if given the order.
In response, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said Saturday
that Yerevan wanted to resolve the issue peacefully, but added: "If
Azerbaijan tries use force against our people, that will impact very
badly on Azerbaijan, it will result in a very desperate situation,
because we have another advantage in that we are defending our
homeland."
Animosity was on display as Armenians commemorated the World War One
killings, a defining element of Armenian national identity that is
recognized as genocide by a number of foreign states and Western
historians.
Turkey rejects the term and denies that up to 1.5 million Armenians
died. It says many Muslim Turks and Kurds, as well as Christian
Armenians, were killed in inter-communal violence as Russian forces
invaded eastern Anatolia during World War One.
"Turkey and Azerbaijan will always be our enemies," said 22- year-old
graduate Grigor Kafalian, an Armenian born in Lebanon, as he attended
a march of several thousand through Yerevan late Friday to demand
Turkey recognize the massacres as genocide.
Armenians around the world marked the anniversary. In Lebanon,
thousands gathered in the capital Beirut, some carrying banners that
read: "Turkey, the black file of justice" and "Impunity for Turkey
nurtures culture of violence."
Tens of thousands more flocked to the hilltop monument in Yerevan --
twelve shields of grey basalt, leaning inwards toward a flame set in a
sunken bowl.
"Our president did everything to fix relations, but now it's up to
Turkey," said Alush Vartanyan, 48.
(Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Beirut and by Tulay Karadeniz
in Ankara; Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Noah Barkin)