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Global Insight
July 29, 2011
Turkish PM Demands Apology from Armenian Counterpart
by Lilit Gevorgyan
On 27 July, during his official visit to Azerbaijan, Turkish prime
minister Recep Tayyip Erdo an stated that his country expects Armenian
president Serzh Sargsyan to apologise for the remarks made earlier
this week. During Sargsyan's earlier meeting with youth at a summer
camp, in response to a question about the future of "Western Armenia"
(a term used in Armenia to refer to the historic homeland in modern
central and eastern Turkey), he had replied that it depended on the
new generation. He said that his generation had fulfilled their task
in the beginning of the 1990s by defending part of the Armenian
homeland--Karabakh--from the enemy.
Sargsyan said, "I am not telling this to embarrass anyone. My point is
that each generation has its responsibilities and they have to be
carried out with honour." He then went on to say that a country's
international standing is often "not conditioned by its territory. A
country should be modern, it should be secure and prosperous, and
these are conditions which allow any nation to sit next to the
respectable, powerful and reputed nations of the world." These
comments were interpreted by the Turkish leader as an attempt to fill
the Armenian youth with hatred, for which Sargsyan has to apologise.
Erdo an added that the Armenian youth should be told that they are
occupiers in Nagorno Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian populated area in
Azerbaijan that broke away in 1988 and later on declared unilateral
independence following a referendum. The Armenian Foreign Ministry has
called Erdo an's comments "artificial hysteria", adding that it is a
deliberate misinterpretation of facts to avoid normalisation in
bilateral ties and opening the border with Armenia.
Significance:The comments made by the Turkish leader in Azerbaijan
highlight the lingering thorny issues that divide Armenia on the one
hand and Azerbaijan and Turkey on the other. Turkish foreign policy
under the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) has seen
ebbing and fluxing in recent years. The AKP's initial goal of having
zero conflict along is borders saw its peak in 2009-10. Then, at the
initiative of Sargsyan, a normalisation process was launched with
mediation from the United States, EU, Russia and Switzerland. Two
protocols were signed envisaging Turkey opening its borders with
Armenia, which have been shut since 1993, and the two countries
establishing diplomatic ties, all without precondition. The process
was subsequently frozen as Turkey introduced preconditions, chiefly
linking normalisation of its bilateral ties with Armenia to a third
country--Azerbaijan--and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan and
Turkey are ethnic kin and the latter shut its borders with Armenia in
the early 1990s in support of Azerbaijan. The protocols damaged the
trust between Turkey and Azerbaijan, which transports its oil and gas
through Georgia and Turkey to the EU. Since the failure of the
Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, however, their relations have improved
as well. Erdo an's harsh criticism of Sargsyan made in Baku is
certainly part of an effort to assure Azerbaijan of his unwavering
support for the latter in the conflict. Erdogan's demand is not
constructive, however, given that the country is under pressure by the
US and EU to restart the peace talks with Armenia after its June
election.
From: Baghdasarian
July 29, 2011
Turkish PM Demands Apology from Armenian Counterpart
by Lilit Gevorgyan
On 27 July, during his official visit to Azerbaijan, Turkish prime
minister Recep Tayyip Erdo an stated that his country expects Armenian
president Serzh Sargsyan to apologise for the remarks made earlier
this week. During Sargsyan's earlier meeting with youth at a summer
camp, in response to a question about the future of "Western Armenia"
(a term used in Armenia to refer to the historic homeland in modern
central and eastern Turkey), he had replied that it depended on the
new generation. He said that his generation had fulfilled their task
in the beginning of the 1990s by defending part of the Armenian
homeland--Karabakh--from the enemy.
Sargsyan said, "I am not telling this to embarrass anyone. My point is
that each generation has its responsibilities and they have to be
carried out with honour." He then went on to say that a country's
international standing is often "not conditioned by its territory. A
country should be modern, it should be secure and prosperous, and
these are conditions which allow any nation to sit next to the
respectable, powerful and reputed nations of the world." These
comments were interpreted by the Turkish leader as an attempt to fill
the Armenian youth with hatred, for which Sargsyan has to apologise.
Erdo an added that the Armenian youth should be told that they are
occupiers in Nagorno Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian populated area in
Azerbaijan that broke away in 1988 and later on declared unilateral
independence following a referendum. The Armenian Foreign Ministry has
called Erdo an's comments "artificial hysteria", adding that it is a
deliberate misinterpretation of facts to avoid normalisation in
bilateral ties and opening the border with Armenia.
Significance:The comments made by the Turkish leader in Azerbaijan
highlight the lingering thorny issues that divide Armenia on the one
hand and Azerbaijan and Turkey on the other. Turkish foreign policy
under the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) has seen
ebbing and fluxing in recent years. The AKP's initial goal of having
zero conflict along is borders saw its peak in 2009-10. Then, at the
initiative of Sargsyan, a normalisation process was launched with
mediation from the United States, EU, Russia and Switzerland. Two
protocols were signed envisaging Turkey opening its borders with
Armenia, which have been shut since 1993, and the two countries
establishing diplomatic ties, all without precondition. The process
was subsequently frozen as Turkey introduced preconditions, chiefly
linking normalisation of its bilateral ties with Armenia to a third
country--Azerbaijan--and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan and
Turkey are ethnic kin and the latter shut its borders with Armenia in
the early 1990s in support of Azerbaijan. The protocols damaged the
trust between Turkey and Azerbaijan, which transports its oil and gas
through Georgia and Turkey to the EU. Since the failure of the
Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, however, their relations have improved
as well. Erdo an's harsh criticism of Sargsyan made in Baku is
certainly part of an effort to assure Azerbaijan of his unwavering
support for the latter in the conflict. Erdogan's demand is not
constructive, however, given that the country is under pressure by the
US and EU to restart the peace talks with Armenia after its June
election.
From: Baghdasarian