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TURKEY REAFFIRMS KARABAKH PRECONDITION
Armenialiberty.org
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24514507.html
March 13 2012
Turkey remains adamant in making the normalization of its relations
with Armenia conditional on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister
Bekir Bozdag said on Tuesday.
"Nagorno-Karabakh is a Muslim, Azerbaijani and Turkic land occupied
by Armenia," Bozdag told journalists during a visit to Baku. "The
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is our common problem."
"Until Armenia pulls out of Nagorno-Karabakh, until the rights of
Azerbaijanis of that region are restored Turkish-Armenian relations
will not be normalized," he said, according to the Trend news agency.
Ankara has followed this line even after signing in 2009 two protocols
with Yerevan that committed the two sides to establish diplomatic
relations and open the Turkish-Armenian border. Turkish leaders have
repeatedly said that the protocols will not be ratified by Turkey's
parliament before a breakthrough in the international efforts to
broker an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal on Karabakh.
The Armenian side rejects this precondition, accusing the Turks of
acting against the letter and spirit of the Western-backed protocols.
President Serzh Sarkisian last year threatened to withdraw Yerevan's
signature from the deal.
Sarkisian mentioned the failed Turkish-Armenian normalization process
when he addressed a congress of his Republican Party on Saturday. He
insisted that despite the fiasco the unprecedented rapprochement
between the two neighboring nations, which began in 2008, was worth it.
"The entire world came to see that the only obstacle to the
establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey is in Ankara
and another capital ... but in no way or shape Yerevan," Sarkisian
said. He argued that Ankara was "compelled" in 2009 to sign a legally
binding document that calls for an unconditional normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relations.
Turkey has stood by the Karabakh linkage despite pressure from the
United States. Visiting Ankara in December, U.S. Vice President Joe
Biden expressed hope that the Turkish parliament will ratify the
protocols "in the months ahead."
From: A. Papazian
Armenialiberty.org
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24514507.html
March 13 2012
Turkey remains adamant in making the normalization of its relations
with Armenia conditional on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister
Bekir Bozdag said on Tuesday.
"Nagorno-Karabakh is a Muslim, Azerbaijani and Turkic land occupied
by Armenia," Bozdag told journalists during a visit to Baku. "The
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is our common problem."
"Until Armenia pulls out of Nagorno-Karabakh, until the rights of
Azerbaijanis of that region are restored Turkish-Armenian relations
will not be normalized," he said, according to the Trend news agency.
Ankara has followed this line even after signing in 2009 two protocols
with Yerevan that committed the two sides to establish diplomatic
relations and open the Turkish-Armenian border. Turkish leaders have
repeatedly said that the protocols will not be ratified by Turkey's
parliament before a breakthrough in the international efforts to
broker an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal on Karabakh.
The Armenian side rejects this precondition, accusing the Turks of
acting against the letter and spirit of the Western-backed protocols.
President Serzh Sarkisian last year threatened to withdraw Yerevan's
signature from the deal.
Sarkisian mentioned the failed Turkish-Armenian normalization process
when he addressed a congress of his Republican Party on Saturday. He
insisted that despite the fiasco the unprecedented rapprochement
between the two neighboring nations, which began in 2008, was worth it.
"The entire world came to see that the only obstacle to the
establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey is in Ankara
and another capital ... but in no way or shape Yerevan," Sarkisian
said. He argued that Ankara was "compelled" in 2009 to sign a legally
binding document that calls for an unconditional normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relations.
Turkey has stood by the Karabakh linkage despite pressure from the
United States. Visiting Ankara in December, U.S. Vice President Joe
Biden expressed hope that the Turkish parliament will ratify the
protocols "in the months ahead."
From: A. Papazian