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LINGERING LINKAGE: TURKEY STILL MAKES ITS RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA CONDITIONAL ON KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
16.03.12 | 12:34
Turkey does not cease to link the normalization of its relations
with Armenia to progress in the Karabakh settlement that would favor
its regional ethnic cousin Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that world
leaders have repeatedly called for an unconditional rapprochement,
officials in Ankara keep making references to the conflict between
its two Caucasus neighbors.
Turkey fully supports Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Bekir Bozdag told
media in Baku earlier this week. "Until Armenia withdraws from
Nagorno-Karabakh, until the rights of Azerbaijanis in the region are
restored, Turkish-Armenian relations will not be normalized. We want
a peaceful resolution of this conflict that will take place within
a short time and we will continue our efforts in this direction,"
he said. At the same time, the senior Turkish official stressed that
Karabakh is a native land for Azeris and Turks.
Yerevan's response came shortly as Deputy Speaker of the Armenian
Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov said that "not only Artsakh is the native
Armenian land that has no historical connection with Turkic tribes,
but also the state that this Turkish official is a citizen of." "Let
me remind you that modern-day Turkey was founded on historical Greek
and Armenian lands after the annihilation of the indigenous Armenian
and Greek population," stressed Sharmazanov. He added that "Azerbaijan
must withdraw its troops from occupied Shahumyan and Getashen, and
the Turks must withdraw from Northern Cyprus."
The issue of linkage of the Turkish-Armenian process and the Karabakh
settlement was also addressed in a recent monograph by David Phillips,
a renowned American political scientist who was actively involved in
Turkish-Armenian dialogue in the early 2000s.
The United States has its share of the blame for the failure of
the efforts of recent years in settlement of relations between
Armenia and Turkey, Phillips concluded in his extensive work that was
recently published by the Columbia University in New York. According
to Phillips, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama did
not do enough to stop the Turkish government linking parliamentary
ratification of the 2009 Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements
with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He also called for a U.S. "policy
review" on Armenia-Turkey that would consider the possibility of
officially recognizing the 1915 Armenian massacres in the Ottoman
Empire as genocide.
The question of linking the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process
and the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, apparently,
also became the reason for which the U.S. administration stopped
short of reconfirming Matthew Bryza, a former OSCE Minsk Group
co-chair representing the United States, as the country's ambassador
to Azerbaijan. The Armenian lobby had actively opposed the appointment
of Bryza at the ambassadorial post in Baku, in the end, after a year
of work there he had to leave the post.
Bryza gave an interesting interview to the Turkish newspaper,
Hurriyet, in which he warned the current U.S. administration that the
"artificial" assertion that there is no link between the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the Turkish-Armenian normalization
condemns to death the prospects of resolving the conflict. "In fact,
Armenia gains a huge benefit from the opening of its border with
Turkey without any compromise in the Karabakh issue," said Bryza.
Such frankness of the American diplomat may be evidence that, as an
ambassador who served in Azerbaijan for a year, he was doing everything
for the Karabakh problem to stand in the way of Turkish-Armenian
relations. And he did so in defiance of his administration, which has
repeatedly stated that these two issues should not be linked together.
It is not ruled out that the U.S. Department of State held Bryza
responsible for disrupting the Turkish-Armenian process, as Baku's
position became a major obstacle to that normalization.
"The U.S. should focus on a breakthrough in Karabakh, which is
achievable. The breakthrough would be a framework agreement on the
peaceful settlement," thinks Bryza.
The world leaders, however, still appear to have a different opinion.
Their actions reveal they are not after changing the Karabakh status
quo by all means, despite efforts by Turkey and Azerbaijan to make
Armenia retreat from its positions accompanied by threats to solve
the conflict militarily.
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
16.03.12 | 12:34
Turkey does not cease to link the normalization of its relations
with Armenia to progress in the Karabakh settlement that would favor
its regional ethnic cousin Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that world
leaders have repeatedly called for an unconditional rapprochement,
officials in Ankara keep making references to the conflict between
its two Caucasus neighbors.
Turkey fully supports Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Bekir Bozdag told
media in Baku earlier this week. "Until Armenia withdraws from
Nagorno-Karabakh, until the rights of Azerbaijanis in the region are
restored, Turkish-Armenian relations will not be normalized. We want
a peaceful resolution of this conflict that will take place within
a short time and we will continue our efforts in this direction,"
he said. At the same time, the senior Turkish official stressed that
Karabakh is a native land for Azeris and Turks.
Yerevan's response came shortly as Deputy Speaker of the Armenian
Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov said that "not only Artsakh is the native
Armenian land that has no historical connection with Turkic tribes,
but also the state that this Turkish official is a citizen of." "Let
me remind you that modern-day Turkey was founded on historical Greek
and Armenian lands after the annihilation of the indigenous Armenian
and Greek population," stressed Sharmazanov. He added that "Azerbaijan
must withdraw its troops from occupied Shahumyan and Getashen, and
the Turks must withdraw from Northern Cyprus."
The issue of linkage of the Turkish-Armenian process and the Karabakh
settlement was also addressed in a recent monograph by David Phillips,
a renowned American political scientist who was actively involved in
Turkish-Armenian dialogue in the early 2000s.
The United States has its share of the blame for the failure of
the efforts of recent years in settlement of relations between
Armenia and Turkey, Phillips concluded in his extensive work that was
recently published by the Columbia University in New York. According
to Phillips, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama did
not do enough to stop the Turkish government linking parliamentary
ratification of the 2009 Turkish-Armenian normalization agreements
with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He also called for a U.S. "policy
review" on Armenia-Turkey that would consider the possibility of
officially recognizing the 1915 Armenian massacres in the Ottoman
Empire as genocide.
The question of linking the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process
and the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, apparently,
also became the reason for which the U.S. administration stopped
short of reconfirming Matthew Bryza, a former OSCE Minsk Group
co-chair representing the United States, as the country's ambassador
to Azerbaijan. The Armenian lobby had actively opposed the appointment
of Bryza at the ambassadorial post in Baku, in the end, after a year
of work there he had to leave the post.
Bryza gave an interesting interview to the Turkish newspaper,
Hurriyet, in which he warned the current U.S. administration that the
"artificial" assertion that there is no link between the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the Turkish-Armenian normalization
condemns to death the prospects of resolving the conflict. "In fact,
Armenia gains a huge benefit from the opening of its border with
Turkey without any compromise in the Karabakh issue," said Bryza.
Such frankness of the American diplomat may be evidence that, as an
ambassador who served in Azerbaijan for a year, he was doing everything
for the Karabakh problem to stand in the way of Turkish-Armenian
relations. And he did so in defiance of his administration, which has
repeatedly stated that these two issues should not be linked together.
It is not ruled out that the U.S. Department of State held Bryza
responsible for disrupting the Turkish-Armenian process, as Baku's
position became a major obstacle to that normalization.
"The U.S. should focus on a breakthrough in Karabakh, which is
achievable. The breakthrough would be a framework agreement on the
peaceful settlement," thinks Bryza.
The world leaders, however, still appear to have a different opinion.
Their actions reveal they are not after changing the Karabakh status
quo by all means, despite efforts by Turkey and Azerbaijan to make
Armenia retreat from its positions accompanied by threats to solve
the conflict militarily.