Tweet
YEREVAN REACTS TO ANKARA'S REMARKS ON REVIVING RELATIONS
Hurriyet Daily news, Turkey
Oct 15 2013
ISTANBUL - Hurriyet Daily News
by Vercihan Ziflioglu
The Armenian Foreign Ministry and opposition parties have reacted
skeptically to the Turkish foreign minister's recent remarks on
reviving the two state's relations, saying they have "heard this old
song before."
"Four years have passed since the initialing of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols and since then the Armenian side has constantly heard the
same old song from Ankara about some creative approaches," Armenian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan told ArmInfo news agency
on Oct. 11, referring to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's
remarks on the issue.
"All these statements are nothing other than a permanent attempt by
Ankara to veil the Turkish side's torpedoing of the ratification and
implementation of the Armenian-Turkish protocols without preconditions,
which is expected by the international community," Balayan added.
His statements came a day after Davutoglu said Turkey was looking for
"creative ideas" to develop relations with Armenia, adding that Ankara
gave a lot of importance to the normalization of ties.
Davutoglu also said Turkey would increase efforts on the issue in the
coming months. Two politicians from Armenia's opposition parties also
reacted to Davutoglu's statements. "Turkey has to take steps showing
that it is determined to follow these remarks. But it cannot, because
Baku is determining Turkey's policies on this issue, rather than
Ankara," David Shahnazaryan, the head of Armenian National Congress,
told the Hurriyet Daily News yesterday. "Turkey cannot take any
steps without taking permission from Baku," Shahnazaryan also said,
adding that Turkey only aimed to "gain time" from the international
community with these remarks and would not take any concrete steps.
Ardashes Shahbazyan, a spokesperson for the opposition Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) party, also said even if Davutoglu
was sincere in his remarks, Armenia could not reach an agreement with
Ankara as long as Nagorno-Karabakh remained a precondition. "Davutoglu
knows Nagorno-Karabakh will never be the subject of negotiations,
but they [Ankara] will often repeat similar remarks, even after 2015
[the 100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents]. Their real aim is not
to revive relations," Shahbazyan said yesterday.
October/15/2013
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet Daily news, Turkey
Oct 15 2013
ISTANBUL - Hurriyet Daily News
by Vercihan Ziflioglu
The Armenian Foreign Ministry and opposition parties have reacted
skeptically to the Turkish foreign minister's recent remarks on
reviving the two state's relations, saying they have "heard this old
song before."
"Four years have passed since the initialing of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols and since then the Armenian side has constantly heard the
same old song from Ankara about some creative approaches," Armenian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan told ArmInfo news agency
on Oct. 11, referring to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's
remarks on the issue.
"All these statements are nothing other than a permanent attempt by
Ankara to veil the Turkish side's torpedoing of the ratification and
implementation of the Armenian-Turkish protocols without preconditions,
which is expected by the international community," Balayan added.
His statements came a day after Davutoglu said Turkey was looking for
"creative ideas" to develop relations with Armenia, adding that Ankara
gave a lot of importance to the normalization of ties.
Davutoglu also said Turkey would increase efforts on the issue in the
coming months. Two politicians from Armenia's opposition parties also
reacted to Davutoglu's statements. "Turkey has to take steps showing
that it is determined to follow these remarks. But it cannot, because
Baku is determining Turkey's policies on this issue, rather than
Ankara," David Shahnazaryan, the head of Armenian National Congress,
told the Hurriyet Daily News yesterday. "Turkey cannot take any
steps without taking permission from Baku," Shahnazaryan also said,
adding that Turkey only aimed to "gain time" from the international
community with these remarks and would not take any concrete steps.
Ardashes Shahbazyan, a spokesperson for the opposition Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) party, also said even if Davutoglu
was sincere in his remarks, Armenia could not reach an agreement with
Ankara as long as Nagorno-Karabakh remained a precondition. "Davutoglu
knows Nagorno-Karabakh will never be the subject of negotiations,
but they [Ankara] will often repeat similar remarks, even after 2015
[the 100th anniversary of the 1915 incidents]. Their real aim is not
to revive relations," Shahbazyan said yesterday.
October/15/2013
From: A. Papazian