Turkish Press
April 29 2005

Kocharian’s Letter And The So-called Genocide

BY MUSTAFA KARAALIOGLU

YENI SAFAK- No problem can be resolved by ignoring it. All foreign
policy problems have a shelf life. Just as a resolution is now
inevitable on Cyprus after 30 years of deadlock, Turkey will also
have to face up to the Armenians sooner or later.

Facing up doesn’t necessarily mean accepting, approving or submitting
to the other side’s demands. In this case, facing up refers to
finding a solution to a problem which could block Turkey’s way to the
European Union.

Let’s take a glance at the thorny issues between the two countries:
Yerevan’s so-called genocide allegations, and Armenia’s occupation of
Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Official contacts between Ankara and Yerevan are so few that the
recent correspondence between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Armenian President Robert Kocharian might be seen as diplomatic
sparring. Kocharian responded to Erdogan’s letter, which offered to
establish a joint commission to debate Armenia’s so-called genocide
allegations.

In brief, Kocharian proposed establishing relations between the two
countries without any preconditions. However, his letter said nothing
about the genocide allegations.

To Yerevan, establishing diplomatic relations with Ankara and opening
its border gate are very important. Turkey is a profitable getaway
for this isolated country. So, Armenia’s demand for trade with Turkey
can be used as a trump card during possible negotiations on the
so-called genocide claims. However, this can’t be as useful as we
hope. As a matter of fact, the Armenian public relations campaign has
superiority in the international community. In other words, they have
managed to convince nearly all countries that there was a `genocide.’
Therefore, they can’t and won’t retreat from this position.
Accordingly, for Yerevan, it wouldn’t be reasonable to discuss the
issue with historians.

To Ankara, establishing relations with Armenia wouldn’t be as easy as
it hopes because this issue is directly related to the cost of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project. We’ll be in trouble if we
establish contact with Yerevan despite the fact that Azerbaijan’s
territories are occupied by Armenia.

Nonetheless, if Turkey manages to improve its relations with Armenia,
this would of course blunt the impact of the Armenian anti-Turkish
propaganda, paving the way for a more advantageous EU platform.
However, the first step that Yerevan must take is to withdraw its
troops from Nagorno-Karabakh. In other words, Armenian should make
the first move if it really wants to boost its relations with Turkey.
And the only country that could force Yerevan to make this move is
the United States, not the European Union or any other bloc.