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WPS Agency, Russia
Jan 22 2010
ANKARA AND YEREVAN: LANGUAGE OF ULTIMATUMS
by Yuri Simonjan
NORMALIZATION OF THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS IS COMPROMISED AND
ABOUT TO BE CIRCUMVENTED; The impression in Yerevan is that official
Ankara is looking for an excuse to table ratification of the Swiss
Protocols on normalization of the bilateral relations.
Murad Marjan of the Turkish parliament's Commission for Foreign
Relations told foreign media Wednesday that the Grand National
Assembly was not even going to discuss the so called Swiss Protocols
on normalization of the relations Turkey and Armenia had signed in
Zurich on October 10-11. The MP called it "impossible" before
"de-occupation of the Azerbaijani territories". Official Ankara pinned
the blame for circumvention of normalization on the Armenian
Constitutional Court that had allegedly altered the protocols prior to
submitting them to the parliament for ratification.
Lengthy and unbelievably difficult negotiations between Yerevan and
Ankara, "football diplomacy" of presidents Serj Sargsjan and Abdullah
Gul, and finally the protocols themselves that map out restoration of
the bilateral relations - all of that might become Sisyphean labor
overnight.
"There will be no discussion of the protocols between Ankara and
Yerevan at the parliament of Turkey before withdrawal of the Armenian
troops from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan," Marjan announced.
The lawmaker explained that Ankara held dear the relations with
Azerbaijan, based as they were on the principles of friendship and
brotherhood. (In fact, some radically-minded Turkish parliamentarians
demanded an apology from the government for "... having hurt the
Turkish people by insulting the sisterly Azerbaijani nation.")
Ankara's other claim directly concerned the Swiss Protocols
themselves. The Armenian legislation demanded examination of the
protocols by the Constitutional Court before turning them over to the
parliament. Turkey claims nowadays that the Armenian Constitutional
Court unilaterally revised the documents and submitted them to the
parliament in an altered form. Newspaper Hurriyet reported Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan informing Yerevan that he was suspending
the process of rapprochement and Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu
discussing these developments with his Armenian counterpart Edward
Nalbandjan over phone Wednesday night.
A source in Yerevan was approached for comments on what was happening.
As it turned out, the Constitutional Court had examined the Swiss
Protocols on normalization, found them to be in line with the Armenian
legislation and Constitution, and turned them over to the parliament.
Enclosed was a reminder that the protocols in question were not to be
interpreted or applied in defiance of the Constitution of Armenia and
Clause 11 of the Armenian Declaration of Independence (the latter
stating "The Republic of Armenia supports the process of international
recognition of the genocide of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and
West Armenia in 1915"). "By and large, it is this phrase that made
Ankara mad. So mad that Ankara even protested against what came down
to a comment by the Constitutional Court, nothing suggesting any
revisions of the documents submitted for ratification," the source
said. "If the statements made by prominent Turkish politicians are any
indication, Ankara is deliberately stalling and looking for an excuse
to circumvent the process of ratification. The Armenian foreign
minister informed his Turkish opposite number that this was the
impression Yerevan was getting."
This turn of events could be anticipated and should have been taken
precautions against. At the very least, the level of trust in each
other in Armenian and Turkish societies is unbelievably low. Same with
political establishments, for that matter. The day following the
signing of the protocols when Ankara and Yerevan had finally agreed to
differentiate the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani problems,
Erdogan himself announced that the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation was
impossible without restoration of Azerbaijani jurisdiction over
Nagorno-Karabakh. That was only the first such statement in a whole
series. Of course, Erdogan's words could be attributed to the reaction
of Azerbaijan to the news from Switzerland. Baku officially condemned
the Turkish-Armenian contacts as "betrayal" and even threatened Ankara
with revision of strategic relations and certain energy
inconveniences.
Turkey had severed diplomatic relations with Armenia and closed the
border with it in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan defeated in the
war for Nagorno-Karabakh. Moreover, it was Ankara' own idea to do so.
International intermediaries (including the OSCE Minsk Group) spared
neither time nor effort persuading Ankara that it had better
concentrate on its relations with Armenia and let Azerbaijan handle
its own without mixing these two issues. Russian Premier Vladimir
Putin was the last so far to speak up on the subject. When Erdogan was
visiting Moscow not long ago, Putin reminded him that linking these
two problems was "wrong strategically and tactically". All of that
apparently failed to make Turkey see the light. Unless Ankara's latest
actions and statement are really an attempt to bully Yerevan on the
eve of the January 25 meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan,
Armenia, and Russia.
WPS'2010
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, No 10, January 22, 2010, p. 6
[translated from Russian]
Jan 22 2010
ANKARA AND YEREVAN: LANGUAGE OF ULTIMATUMS
by Yuri Simonjan
NORMALIZATION OF THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS IS COMPROMISED AND
ABOUT TO BE CIRCUMVENTED; The impression in Yerevan is that official
Ankara is looking for an excuse to table ratification of the Swiss
Protocols on normalization of the bilateral relations.
Murad Marjan of the Turkish parliament's Commission for Foreign
Relations told foreign media Wednesday that the Grand National
Assembly was not even going to discuss the so called Swiss Protocols
on normalization of the relations Turkey and Armenia had signed in
Zurich on October 10-11. The MP called it "impossible" before
"de-occupation of the Azerbaijani territories". Official Ankara pinned
the blame for circumvention of normalization on the Armenian
Constitutional Court that had allegedly altered the protocols prior to
submitting them to the parliament for ratification.
Lengthy and unbelievably difficult negotiations between Yerevan and
Ankara, "football diplomacy" of presidents Serj Sargsjan and Abdullah
Gul, and finally the protocols themselves that map out restoration of
the bilateral relations - all of that might become Sisyphean labor
overnight.
"There will be no discussion of the protocols between Ankara and
Yerevan at the parliament of Turkey before withdrawal of the Armenian
troops from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan," Marjan announced.
The lawmaker explained that Ankara held dear the relations with
Azerbaijan, based as they were on the principles of friendship and
brotherhood. (In fact, some radically-minded Turkish parliamentarians
demanded an apology from the government for "... having hurt the
Turkish people by insulting the sisterly Azerbaijani nation.")
Ankara's other claim directly concerned the Swiss Protocols
themselves. The Armenian legislation demanded examination of the
protocols by the Constitutional Court before turning them over to the
parliament. Turkey claims nowadays that the Armenian Constitutional
Court unilaterally revised the documents and submitted them to the
parliament in an altered form. Newspaper Hurriyet reported Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan informing Yerevan that he was suspending
the process of rapprochement and Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu
discussing these developments with his Armenian counterpart Edward
Nalbandjan over phone Wednesday night.
A source in Yerevan was approached for comments on what was happening.
As it turned out, the Constitutional Court had examined the Swiss
Protocols on normalization, found them to be in line with the Armenian
legislation and Constitution, and turned them over to the parliament.
Enclosed was a reminder that the protocols in question were not to be
interpreted or applied in defiance of the Constitution of Armenia and
Clause 11 of the Armenian Declaration of Independence (the latter
stating "The Republic of Armenia supports the process of international
recognition of the genocide of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and
West Armenia in 1915"). "By and large, it is this phrase that made
Ankara mad. So mad that Ankara even protested against what came down
to a comment by the Constitutional Court, nothing suggesting any
revisions of the documents submitted for ratification," the source
said. "If the statements made by prominent Turkish politicians are any
indication, Ankara is deliberately stalling and looking for an excuse
to circumvent the process of ratification. The Armenian foreign
minister informed his Turkish opposite number that this was the
impression Yerevan was getting."
This turn of events could be anticipated and should have been taken
precautions against. At the very least, the level of trust in each
other in Armenian and Turkish societies is unbelievably low. Same with
political establishments, for that matter. The day following the
signing of the protocols when Ankara and Yerevan had finally agreed to
differentiate the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani problems,
Erdogan himself announced that the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation was
impossible without restoration of Azerbaijani jurisdiction over
Nagorno-Karabakh. That was only the first such statement in a whole
series. Of course, Erdogan's words could be attributed to the reaction
of Azerbaijan to the news from Switzerland. Baku officially condemned
the Turkish-Armenian contacts as "betrayal" and even threatened Ankara
with revision of strategic relations and certain energy
inconveniences.
Turkey had severed diplomatic relations with Armenia and closed the
border with it in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan defeated in the
war for Nagorno-Karabakh. Moreover, it was Ankara' own idea to do so.
International intermediaries (including the OSCE Minsk Group) spared
neither time nor effort persuading Ankara that it had better
concentrate on its relations with Armenia and let Azerbaijan handle
its own without mixing these two issues. Russian Premier Vladimir
Putin was the last so far to speak up on the subject. When Erdogan was
visiting Moscow not long ago, Putin reminded him that linking these
two problems was "wrong strategically and tactically". All of that
apparently failed to make Turkey see the light. Unless Ankara's latest
actions and statement are really an attempt to bully Yerevan on the
eve of the January 25 meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan,
Armenia, and Russia.
WPS'2010
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, No 10, January 22, 2010, p. 6
[translated from Russian]