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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Oct 9 2011
Armenia protocols `left to dust' on the shelves
Sunday, October 9, 2011
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian Foreign Minister Edouard Nalbandia (2nd L) and Turkish
Foreign Minister, Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu, (2nd R) shake hands while signing
landmark protocols. AP photo.
Exactly two years ago today, landmark protocols aimed at normalizing
Turkey-Armenia relations were signed in Zurich, Switzerland. The time
that has passed between then and now, however, have proved among the
toughest for diplomacy in the region, and academics on both sides
agree that a chance has been missed.
According to Armenian scholar Yervand Bozoyan, the fault lies squarely
on the Turkish side.
`The protocols are unlikely to come to the agenda anytime soon,'
Bozoyan said in a recent interview. `For Turkey, the Karabakh issue is
a precondition, but Armenia is for dialogue without such
preconditions.'
The protocols were signed on Oct. 10, 2009 by Armenia's Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
DavutoÄ?lu. Both parliaments, however, failed to ratify the accord.
Alexander Isgandarian of the Caucasus Institute agreed with Bozoyan,
criticizing Turkey for the 1993 move to close borders with Armenia.
The failure of the protocol to pass through parliaments has also
created disappointment on the Turkish side.
`At the time of the signing ceremony, I thought this was part of a
pre-agreed plan,' said Ä°lter Turan, an international relations
academic from the Istanbul Bilgi University. `But it seems that either
there was no such plan, or other steps of the plan failed to follow.'
`We're back at square one,' said Hagop �akıryan, an Armenian journalist.
`Ankara's agenda is full of items more important that relations with
Armenia,' �akıryan said. `Turkey has set its gaze toward the Middle
East, aiming to be a regional power. There are also the Kurdish and
Cyprus issues and strained ties with Israel. In such a climate, Turkey
won't be interested in the protocols anymore.'
If Turkey wishes to become a leader in the Caucasus, it cannot do this
`if it excludes Armenia,' according to �akıryan.
Daily News columnist Semih Ä°diz was also pessimistic, saying that the
protocols `are left to dust on the shelves.' However, he disagreed
with the `shift of focus' perspective, pointing to the Azerbaijan
factor as the real reason.
According to Ä°diz, what blocked the process was Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's May 2009 speech at the parliament in Baku, in which
he promised there would be no progress regarding the protocols if the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue remained unresolved.
`Thus, a solution requires a Karabakh progress by the Minsk Group,'
Ä°diz said. `And such a progress does not seem possible [for now].'
Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu and Sevim Songün contributed to this report.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=armenia-protocols-8216left-to-dust8217-on-the-shelves-2011-10-09
From: Baghdasarian
Oct 9 2011
Armenia protocols `left to dust' on the shelves
Sunday, October 9, 2011
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian Foreign Minister Edouard Nalbandia (2nd L) and Turkish
Foreign Minister, Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu, (2nd R) shake hands while signing
landmark protocols. AP photo.
Exactly two years ago today, landmark protocols aimed at normalizing
Turkey-Armenia relations were signed in Zurich, Switzerland. The time
that has passed between then and now, however, have proved among the
toughest for diplomacy in the region, and academics on both sides
agree that a chance has been missed.
According to Armenian scholar Yervand Bozoyan, the fault lies squarely
on the Turkish side.
`The protocols are unlikely to come to the agenda anytime soon,'
Bozoyan said in a recent interview. `For Turkey, the Karabakh issue is
a precondition, but Armenia is for dialogue without such
preconditions.'
The protocols were signed on Oct. 10, 2009 by Armenia's Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
DavutoÄ?lu. Both parliaments, however, failed to ratify the accord.
Alexander Isgandarian of the Caucasus Institute agreed with Bozoyan,
criticizing Turkey for the 1993 move to close borders with Armenia.
The failure of the protocol to pass through parliaments has also
created disappointment on the Turkish side.
`At the time of the signing ceremony, I thought this was part of a
pre-agreed plan,' said Ä°lter Turan, an international relations
academic from the Istanbul Bilgi University. `But it seems that either
there was no such plan, or other steps of the plan failed to follow.'
`We're back at square one,' said Hagop �akıryan, an Armenian journalist.
`Ankara's agenda is full of items more important that relations with
Armenia,' �akıryan said. `Turkey has set its gaze toward the Middle
East, aiming to be a regional power. There are also the Kurdish and
Cyprus issues and strained ties with Israel. In such a climate, Turkey
won't be interested in the protocols anymore.'
If Turkey wishes to become a leader in the Caucasus, it cannot do this
`if it excludes Armenia,' according to �akıryan.
Daily News columnist Semih Ä°diz was also pessimistic, saying that the
protocols `are left to dust on the shelves.' However, he disagreed
with the `shift of focus' perspective, pointing to the Azerbaijan
factor as the real reason.
According to Ä°diz, what blocked the process was Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an's May 2009 speech at the parliament in Baku, in which
he promised there would be no progress regarding the protocols if the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue remained unresolved.
`Thus, a solution requires a Karabakh progress by the Minsk Group,'
Ä°diz said. `And such a progress does not seem possible [for now].'
Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu and Sevim Songün contributed to this report.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=armenia-protocols-8216left-to-dust8217-on-the-shelves-2011-10-09
From: Baghdasarian