Tweet
ARMENIAN FM CRITICIZES SARKSYAN OVER TURKISH-ARMENIAN NORMALIZATION PROCESS
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-255694-armenian-fm-criticizes-sarksyan-over-turkish-armenian-normalization-process.html
Sept 3 2011
Turkey
Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian reportedly
criticized Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan over mishandling the
entire normalization process between Turkey and Armenia, claiming
that the attempt at reconciliation made it difficult to solve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In a cable released by the whistle blower web site WikiLeaks on Sept.
1, Oskanian restated his concerns about the future of Armenian-Turkish
rapprochement during his meeting with US Ambassador to Armenia, Marie
Yovanovitch on Febr. 10 last year. US ambassador and Oskanian met
to discuss the current state of Armenia-Turkey relations, prospects
for ratification of protocols on normalization of relations and
establishment of diplomatic ties, and efforts to resolve the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.
The cable said Oskanian criticized the manner in which Sarksyan has
handled the entire reconciliation process and that in his view,
the president "put the cart before the horse." Oskanian did not
understand why Sarksyan began the process with Turkey so publicly,
and how unprepared he was for the negative public reaction.
According to Oskanian, prior to embarking upon normalization with
Turkey, the Armenian government had a document for solving the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict -- the Madrid Principles -- that was promising to
both sides. He said the president should have expended his political
capital with Armenian citizens and the diaspora to persuade them
that some of the Nagorno-Karabakh territories must be returned to
Azerbaijan, adding that with Nagorno-Karabakh settled, he could have
then turned to the issues with Turkey.
Oskanian said this had been his plan as foreign minister: first reach
agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh, and then bring in Turkey.
Turkey and Armenia signed twin protocols in 2009 to bury a century of
hostilities but the two countries did not have enough political will
to move forward with the protocols. Turkey insisted after the signing
of the protocols that there should be a meaningful breakthrough in
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a condition for Turkey to ratify the
protocols. Armenia suspend the ratification process on April 22 last
year, accusing Turkey of hampering the normalization.
When asked by the ambassador on how to move the process forward,
Oskanian responded that there must be some movement from Turkey,
and that the protocols cannot be left in abeyance while the parties
shift their attention to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. He believes
the Turkish government must be the first to take action, perhaps
opening the border for limited movement of pedestrian traffic or
third-country nationals.
The cable revealed that based on Oskanian's conversations with his
Turkish contacts, the Turkish government is not offering room to
maneuver and they are not interested in moving the process forward.
Oskanian suggested that communication between Turkey and Armenia
should not be occurring through the media or third parties and that a
reset to this process is needed, with additional high-level meetings
between the presidents that would be kept confidential and focused
on reaching an oral agreement.
According to the cable, while Oskanian believes that the Armenian
government will not ratify the protocols unless it is assured that
Turkey will follow suit, he believed it would be best for Sarksyan to
use his majority in the Armenian Parliament to ratify the protocols
now, while there is still some support and there are no explicit
links between the protocols and Nagorno Karabakh.
Oskanian: Military balance in favor of Azerbaijan The cable
revealed that Oskanian thought the increasingly bellicose rhetoric
from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is not helping matters with
Turkey. Oskanian said Turkey and Azerbaijan are "tightening the screws"
on Armenia from both sides.
The ambassador wrote while a new war over Nagorno-Karabakh would be
a risky proposition for Azerbaijan, Oskanian sees two elements that
indicate the situation there is worsening: 1) people are losing hope
in the diplomatic process to settle the issue; and 2) the military
balance in the area is shifting in favor of Azerbaijan.
Oskanian claimed in the cable that the Turkish-Armenian protocols are
preventing any resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and if not
for the protocols, Oskanian said he could see Sarksyan pushing for
the return of five of the seven Nagorno-Karabakh regions to Azerbaijan
while keeping the remaining two for future discussions.
Oskanian said yet now it would be "political suicide" to do so because
such a move would be seen as giving credence to the conspiracy theories
that claim there is a hidden provision in the protocols that link
them to concessions on NK.
American ambassador: Armenia not moving forward on Madrid Principles
The ambassador wrote that she reiterated the position of the American
administration that it is more beneficial to continue to move forward
than to stop completely, which is what it appears Armenia is doing.
Oskanian said if the Armenian government does not like the revised
wording of the Madrid Principles, then it should propose its own
revisions and not simply reject the principles out of hand. In
Oskanian's view, the Armenian government should write its own proposal
in such a way that is "logical," and so the Minsk Group Co-Chairs
will understand that Armenia is committed to the process even if the
proposed revisions would be unacceptable to Azerbaijan.
He said he sees pressure growing on Aliyev to take action on
Nagorno-Karabakh. In his view, Azerbaijan will not accept indefinitely
what it sees as an occupation of its territory. As for the original
Madrid Principles, Oskanian said Armenia had been satisfied with the
wording, and it would not have been the end of the world if Armenia
had been forced to accept it.
From: Baghdasarian
Today's Zaman
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-255694-armenian-fm-criticizes-sarksyan-over-turkish-armenian-normalization-process.html
Sept 3 2011
Turkey
Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian reportedly
criticized Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan over mishandling the
entire normalization process between Turkey and Armenia, claiming
that the attempt at reconciliation made it difficult to solve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
In a cable released by the whistle blower web site WikiLeaks on Sept.
1, Oskanian restated his concerns about the future of Armenian-Turkish
rapprochement during his meeting with US Ambassador to Armenia, Marie
Yovanovitch on Febr. 10 last year. US ambassador and Oskanian met
to discuss the current state of Armenia-Turkey relations, prospects
for ratification of protocols on normalization of relations and
establishment of diplomatic ties, and efforts to resolve the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.
The cable said Oskanian criticized the manner in which Sarksyan has
handled the entire reconciliation process and that in his view,
the president "put the cart before the horse." Oskanian did not
understand why Sarksyan began the process with Turkey so publicly,
and how unprepared he was for the negative public reaction.
According to Oskanian, prior to embarking upon normalization with
Turkey, the Armenian government had a document for solving the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict -- the Madrid Principles -- that was promising to
both sides. He said the president should have expended his political
capital with Armenian citizens and the diaspora to persuade them
that some of the Nagorno-Karabakh territories must be returned to
Azerbaijan, adding that with Nagorno-Karabakh settled, he could have
then turned to the issues with Turkey.
Oskanian said this had been his plan as foreign minister: first reach
agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh, and then bring in Turkey.
Turkey and Armenia signed twin protocols in 2009 to bury a century of
hostilities but the two countries did not have enough political will
to move forward with the protocols. Turkey insisted after the signing
of the protocols that there should be a meaningful breakthrough in
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a condition for Turkey to ratify the
protocols. Armenia suspend the ratification process on April 22 last
year, accusing Turkey of hampering the normalization.
When asked by the ambassador on how to move the process forward,
Oskanian responded that there must be some movement from Turkey,
and that the protocols cannot be left in abeyance while the parties
shift their attention to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. He believes
the Turkish government must be the first to take action, perhaps
opening the border for limited movement of pedestrian traffic or
third-country nationals.
The cable revealed that based on Oskanian's conversations with his
Turkish contacts, the Turkish government is not offering room to
maneuver and they are not interested in moving the process forward.
Oskanian suggested that communication between Turkey and Armenia
should not be occurring through the media or third parties and that a
reset to this process is needed, with additional high-level meetings
between the presidents that would be kept confidential and focused
on reaching an oral agreement.
According to the cable, while Oskanian believes that the Armenian
government will not ratify the protocols unless it is assured that
Turkey will follow suit, he believed it would be best for Sarksyan to
use his majority in the Armenian Parliament to ratify the protocols
now, while there is still some support and there are no explicit
links between the protocols and Nagorno Karabakh.
Oskanian: Military balance in favor of Azerbaijan The cable
revealed that Oskanian thought the increasingly bellicose rhetoric
from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is not helping matters with
Turkey. Oskanian said Turkey and Azerbaijan are "tightening the screws"
on Armenia from both sides.
The ambassador wrote while a new war over Nagorno-Karabakh would be
a risky proposition for Azerbaijan, Oskanian sees two elements that
indicate the situation there is worsening: 1) people are losing hope
in the diplomatic process to settle the issue; and 2) the military
balance in the area is shifting in favor of Azerbaijan.
Oskanian claimed in the cable that the Turkish-Armenian protocols are
preventing any resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and if not
for the protocols, Oskanian said he could see Sarksyan pushing for
the return of five of the seven Nagorno-Karabakh regions to Azerbaijan
while keeping the remaining two for future discussions.
Oskanian said yet now it would be "political suicide" to do so because
such a move would be seen as giving credence to the conspiracy theories
that claim there is a hidden provision in the protocols that link
them to concessions on NK.
American ambassador: Armenia not moving forward on Madrid Principles
The ambassador wrote that she reiterated the position of the American
administration that it is more beneficial to continue to move forward
than to stop completely, which is what it appears Armenia is doing.
Oskanian said if the Armenian government does not like the revised
wording of the Madrid Principles, then it should propose its own
revisions and not simply reject the principles out of hand. In
Oskanian's view, the Armenian government should write its own proposal
in such a way that is "logical," and so the Minsk Group Co-Chairs
will understand that Armenia is committed to the process even if the
proposed revisions would be unacceptable to Azerbaijan.
He said he sees pressure growing on Aliyev to take action on
Nagorno-Karabakh. In his view, Azerbaijan will not accept indefinitely
what it sees as an occupation of its territory. As for the original
Madrid Principles, Oskanian said Armenia had been satisfied with the
wording, and it would not have been the end of the world if Armenia
had been forced to accept it.
From: Baghdasarian