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Armenia-Turkey: FM Advisor in Ankara talks to Armenian journalists on
past and present
Opinion | 18.09.10 | 10:39
Photo: Gayane Lazarian/ArmeniaNow
Turkish Foreign Ministry assistant adviser Selim Yener says Karabakh,
`April 24' remain stumbling blocks in relations with Yerevan
Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official says the rapprochement between
Ankara and Yerevan has stalled because `the issue is very delicate to
both countries.'
Still, assistant adviser to the Minister Selim Yener expressed hope
that improvement in relations between the two neighboring states would
be achieved as he met with a group of visiting Armenian journalists in
Ankara on Friday.
`We will do everything to achieve it [improvement]. We were one of the
first countries to recognize the independence of the Republic of
Armenia. Both countries took courageous steps by signing the
protocols. We stopped at the stage of ratification. And this is also
what we need to do, but unfortunately there are some sensitive issues
that we have to take into consideration,' said the official, referring
to the recent Armenian-Turkish normalization process and relevant
documents signed by the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey in
Switzerland in October 2009.
The process came to a standstill this April after both sides blamed
each other for setting conditions for parliamentary ratification.
In an interview with the Ukrainian Profile magazine earlier this week
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said: `...The Turkish side refused to
ratify the signed protocols in parliament. And now we are waiting for
a political force or political leaders to appear in Turkey who will be
ready to show political will.'
Yener explains that at this point even if the Armenian-Turkish
protocols enter the Turkish legislature, they will still fail to get
ratified by the country's lawmakers.
`The problem is connected with Karabakh. Armenia should make a step.
Whatever happens, we will always reckon with Azerbaijan. At the moment
of the signing of the protocols, Azerbaijan thought that Turkey had
betrayed it and hit it from the back,' says Yener.
The assistant advisor says that Turkey has adopted a new policy: zero
problems with neighbors and having an open dialogue. He says that
today much more is being said about the 1915 Armenian massacres than a
few years ago and that `April 24 [Armenian Genocide commemoration day]
should not create problems for the two countries.'
`But for the Armenian Diaspora, it would have been easier for us today
to come to terms with Armenia. No doubt, I understand the emotions of
the Diaspora, and, of course, most of them are the result of 1915. But
here there is another important issue. If Turkey admits [the
genocide], we don't know where the Armenian side's demands will take
us to,' he says.
Yener acknowledges that the events of 1915 are an `established
reality' for the Armenians and that there is no Armenian that would
deny this reality.
`A solution should be found one day. But you won't find an Armenian
who would make a compromise. They do not agree when you say let's sit
and talk to see how it happened. Genocide is a very harsh word and no
state would want to say that its predecessors committed genocide,'
says the Turkish ministry advisor.
From: A. Papazian
past and present
Opinion | 18.09.10 | 10:39
Photo: Gayane Lazarian/ArmeniaNow
Turkish Foreign Ministry assistant adviser Selim Yener says Karabakh,
`April 24' remain stumbling blocks in relations with Yerevan
Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official says the rapprochement between
Ankara and Yerevan has stalled because `the issue is very delicate to
both countries.'
Still, assistant adviser to the Minister Selim Yener expressed hope
that improvement in relations between the two neighboring states would
be achieved as he met with a group of visiting Armenian journalists in
Ankara on Friday.
`We will do everything to achieve it [improvement]. We were one of the
first countries to recognize the independence of the Republic of
Armenia. Both countries took courageous steps by signing the
protocols. We stopped at the stage of ratification. And this is also
what we need to do, but unfortunately there are some sensitive issues
that we have to take into consideration,' said the official, referring
to the recent Armenian-Turkish normalization process and relevant
documents signed by the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey in
Switzerland in October 2009.
The process came to a standstill this April after both sides blamed
each other for setting conditions for parliamentary ratification.
In an interview with the Ukrainian Profile magazine earlier this week
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said: `...The Turkish side refused to
ratify the signed protocols in parliament. And now we are waiting for
a political force or political leaders to appear in Turkey who will be
ready to show political will.'
Yener explains that at this point even if the Armenian-Turkish
protocols enter the Turkish legislature, they will still fail to get
ratified by the country's lawmakers.
`The problem is connected with Karabakh. Armenia should make a step.
Whatever happens, we will always reckon with Azerbaijan. At the moment
of the signing of the protocols, Azerbaijan thought that Turkey had
betrayed it and hit it from the back,' says Yener.
The assistant advisor says that Turkey has adopted a new policy: zero
problems with neighbors and having an open dialogue. He says that
today much more is being said about the 1915 Armenian massacres than a
few years ago and that `April 24 [Armenian Genocide commemoration day]
should not create problems for the two countries.'
`But for the Armenian Diaspora, it would have been easier for us today
to come to terms with Armenia. No doubt, I understand the emotions of
the Diaspora, and, of course, most of them are the result of 1915. But
here there is another important issue. If Turkey admits [the
genocide], we don't know where the Armenian side's demands will take
us to,' he says.
Yener acknowledges that the events of 1915 are an `established
reality' for the Armenians and that there is no Armenian that would
deny this reality.
`A solution should be found one day. But you won't find an Armenian
who would make a compromise. They do not agree when you say let's sit
and talk to see how it happened. Genocide is a very harsh word and no
state would want to say that its predecessors committed genocide,'
says the Turkish ministry advisor.
From: A. Papazian