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TURKEY: FOUR YEARS LATER, NORMALIZATION ACCORDS WITH ARMENIA STILL DEAD
EurasiaNet.org
Oct 11 2013
October 11, 2013 - 11:27am, by Yigal Schleifer
When they were signed in Switzerland in October of 2009, the
normalization accords between Turkey and Armenia promised to be
perhaps the fullest expression of Ankara's then new (and now failed)
"zero problems with neighbors" policy, restoring diplomatic ties with
a country that had strong historical grievances against Turkey.
Sadly, the accords never went much further, languishing to this day
in the Turkish and Armenian parliaments, where they have yet to be
ratified. Although both sides blame the other for the failure of
the process, the general consensus among experts is that what mostly
doomed the process was Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
insistence after the protocols were signed that their ratification
be linked to the successful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue,
a precondition that was not part of the original negotiations between
Ankara and Yerevan. (For a thorough history of the rise and fall
of the protocols, take a look at this report by David L. Phillips,
Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights Institute for
the Study of Human Rights.)
Is there any prospect for the Turkey-Armenia normalization process to
be revived? Yesterday, on the signing's fourth anniversary, Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested Turkey is still trying to
find ways to move forward. From Today's Zaman:
Speaking in Switzerland, where Turkey and Armenia signed twin protocols
in 2009 normalizing ties, after a meeting with Swiss Foreign Minister
Didier Burkhalter, Davutoglu pointed out that relations with Armenia
are important for Turkey and that Turkey is trying to find new ideas
and solutions to develop and cover more ground in the relations.
Davutoglu said Turkey will increase its studies for better ties with
its neighbor in the upcoming days. However, he stipulated that Armenia
should deal with the problems in the South Caucasus, particularly the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem, and should leave the Azerbaijani territories
it occupied.
Perhaps as a sign of what little goodwill is left in the process,
Yerevan quickly rejected Davutoglu's statement. Reports Armenia's
Mediamax:
[Foreign Ministry spokesman] Tigran Balayan said that "since the
signing of the Protocols four years have passed and during that
period we hear the same old song from the Turkish side on some
creative ideas".
"These are nothing else than continuation of efforts to hide Turkey's
failure of the ratification and implementation process of the protocols
without any preconditions, something expected by the international
community", said the spokesman answering Arminfo's question.
For now, absent any movement on the Nagorno-Karabakh front, it would
seem the effort to restore diplomatic ties between Turkey and Armenia
is truly dead.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67621
EurasiaNet.org
Oct 11 2013
October 11, 2013 - 11:27am, by Yigal Schleifer
When they were signed in Switzerland in October of 2009, the
normalization accords between Turkey and Armenia promised to be
perhaps the fullest expression of Ankara's then new (and now failed)
"zero problems with neighbors" policy, restoring diplomatic ties with
a country that had strong historical grievances against Turkey.
Sadly, the accords never went much further, languishing to this day
in the Turkish and Armenian parliaments, where they have yet to be
ratified. Although both sides blame the other for the failure of
the process, the general consensus among experts is that what mostly
doomed the process was Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
insistence after the protocols were signed that their ratification
be linked to the successful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue,
a precondition that was not part of the original negotiations between
Ankara and Yerevan. (For a thorough history of the rise and fall
of the protocols, take a look at this report by David L. Phillips,
Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights Institute for
the Study of Human Rights.)
Is there any prospect for the Turkey-Armenia normalization process to
be revived? Yesterday, on the signing's fourth anniversary, Turkish
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested Turkey is still trying to
find ways to move forward. From Today's Zaman:
Speaking in Switzerland, where Turkey and Armenia signed twin protocols
in 2009 normalizing ties, after a meeting with Swiss Foreign Minister
Didier Burkhalter, Davutoglu pointed out that relations with Armenia
are important for Turkey and that Turkey is trying to find new ideas
and solutions to develop and cover more ground in the relations.
Davutoglu said Turkey will increase its studies for better ties with
its neighbor in the upcoming days. However, he stipulated that Armenia
should deal with the problems in the South Caucasus, particularly the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem, and should leave the Azerbaijani territories
it occupied.
Perhaps as a sign of what little goodwill is left in the process,
Yerevan quickly rejected Davutoglu's statement. Reports Armenia's
Mediamax:
[Foreign Ministry spokesman] Tigran Balayan said that "since the
signing of the Protocols four years have passed and during that
period we hear the same old song from the Turkish side on some
creative ideas".
"These are nothing else than continuation of efforts to hide Turkey's
failure of the ratification and implementation process of the protocols
without any preconditions, something expected by the international
community", said the spokesman answering Arminfo's question.
For now, absent any movement on the Nagorno-Karabakh front, it would
seem the effort to restore diplomatic ties between Turkey and Armenia
is truly dead.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67621