Tweet
ARMENIA-TURKEY: GENOCIDE, KARABAKH ISSUES CAUSE FRESH ROUND OF 'DIPLOMATIC BOXING' BETWEEN YEREVANA AND ANKARA
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
14.12.11 | 13:29
A real "diplomatic boxing" match has started between Armenia and
Turkey, and while formally the reason was the latest statement by
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, it seems that Turkey is simply
nervous because of growing international pressure.
Meeting with some senior representatives of the Armenian community in
the French city of Marseilles on December 7, President Sargsyan said:
"One day the Turkish leadership will find the strength to reconsider
its approaches towards the Armenian Genocide... Sooner or later Turkey,
which considers itself a European country, will have leadership which
will bow at Tsitsernakaberd."
The statement caused a stormy reaction from Turkey.
Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Cemal Cicek said that
"the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations entirely depends on
the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem." Speaking at an event
in Ankara commemorating Azerbaijan's late leader Heydar Aliyev on
December 12, Cicek accused the president of Armenia of organizing the
"Khojalu tragedy" in Karabakh in 1992 in which Azerbaijan claims the
Armenian military killed Azeri civilians - an accusation strongly
denied by Armenians. "We all know who Serzh Sargsyan is. He is one
of the authors of the Khojalu genocide," Turkish media quoted Cicek
as saying.
For his part, Turkish State Minister for EU Affairs Egemen Bagis said
that Sargsyan went beyond the limits by making that statement. He
stressed that the Armenian people cannot be strong "due to poverty
and hunger". As quoted by the Turkish Anadolu news agency, Bagis
said that some Armenians were working in Turkey which showed "the
sincerity of Turks."
An official response came from Armenia. Commenting on Turkey's EU
affairs minister, Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan
said: "Such a response from the mouth of an official responsible for
the integration of Turkey into the European Union proves that today's
Turkey does not yet have the leadership befitting a European country,
and some Turkish officials are not bearers of European values and
espouse the mentality in the spirit of the worst traditions of the
Ottoman Empire."
For his part, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov said
that Cicek "repeated the legends of Azerbaijani propaganda about a
million refugees and occupied territories." "What a cynic one has to
be to talk about occupation when your country has for decades occupied
the territory of an EU member state (Cyprus)? To talk about genocide
when your country has turned the denial of crimes against humanity
into a state policy?!" said Sharmazanov.
But international pressure on Turkey and at the same time on Azerbaijan
seems to be gradually building up. The U.S. Senate is voting on
Resolution 306, which calls on Turkey to return the confiscated
Armenian, Greek and Assyrian church property.
France's position on Turkey's membership in the EU has not changed,
with French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirming that he would not
approve Turkey's entry bid.
Also, in France a draft law criminalizing the denial of the
Armenian Genocide seems to have reached the homestretch. MPs from
the French president's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party that
has a parliamentary majority on December 8 submitted a bill to the
legislative committee of the National Assembly aiming to criminalize
the denial of the Armenian Genocide.
And in her December 9 statement in connection with International
Human Rights Day U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned
Azerbaijan, along with Zimbabwe, as one of the negative examples in
the field of human rights and countries where there are political
prisoners.
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
14.12.11 | 13:29
A real "diplomatic boxing" match has started between Armenia and
Turkey, and while formally the reason was the latest statement by
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, it seems that Turkey is simply
nervous because of growing international pressure.
Meeting with some senior representatives of the Armenian community in
the French city of Marseilles on December 7, President Sargsyan said:
"One day the Turkish leadership will find the strength to reconsider
its approaches towards the Armenian Genocide... Sooner or later Turkey,
which considers itself a European country, will have leadership which
will bow at Tsitsernakaberd."
The statement caused a stormy reaction from Turkey.
Chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Cemal Cicek said that
"the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations entirely depends on
the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem." Speaking at an event
in Ankara commemorating Azerbaijan's late leader Heydar Aliyev on
December 12, Cicek accused the president of Armenia of organizing the
"Khojalu tragedy" in Karabakh in 1992 in which Azerbaijan claims the
Armenian military killed Azeri civilians - an accusation strongly
denied by Armenians. "We all know who Serzh Sargsyan is. He is one
of the authors of the Khojalu genocide," Turkish media quoted Cicek
as saying.
For his part, Turkish State Minister for EU Affairs Egemen Bagis said
that Sargsyan went beyond the limits by making that statement. He
stressed that the Armenian people cannot be strong "due to poverty
and hunger". As quoted by the Turkish Anadolu news agency, Bagis
said that some Armenians were working in Turkey which showed "the
sincerity of Turks."
An official response came from Armenia. Commenting on Turkey's EU
affairs minister, Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan
said: "Such a response from the mouth of an official responsible for
the integration of Turkey into the European Union proves that today's
Turkey does not yet have the leadership befitting a European country,
and some Turkish officials are not bearers of European values and
espouse the mentality in the spirit of the worst traditions of the
Ottoman Empire."
For his part, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov said
that Cicek "repeated the legends of Azerbaijani propaganda about a
million refugees and occupied territories." "What a cynic one has to
be to talk about occupation when your country has for decades occupied
the territory of an EU member state (Cyprus)? To talk about genocide
when your country has turned the denial of crimes against humanity
into a state policy?!" said Sharmazanov.
But international pressure on Turkey and at the same time on Azerbaijan
seems to be gradually building up. The U.S. Senate is voting on
Resolution 306, which calls on Turkey to return the confiscated
Armenian, Greek and Assyrian church property.
France's position on Turkey's membership in the EU has not changed,
with French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirming that he would not
approve Turkey's entry bid.
Also, in France a draft law criminalizing the denial of the
Armenian Genocide seems to have reached the homestretch. MPs from
the French president's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party that
has a parliamentary majority on December 8 submitted a bill to the
legislative committee of the National Assembly aiming to criminalize
the denial of the Armenian Genocide.
And in her December 9 statement in connection with International
Human Rights Day U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned
Azerbaijan, along with Zimbabwe, as one of the negative examples in
the field of human rights and countries where there are political
prisoners.