MINISTER OSKANIAN’S RESPONSE TO ABDULLAH GUL

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 6 2006

RA Foreign Minister commented on some remarks of his Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul made in an interview with Radio Liberty.

Minister Oskanian said in particular:

We remain amazed that a letter sent by President Kocharyan to Prime
Minister Erdogan in April 2005 remains ignored, simply because the
Turkish authorities did not like the response contained therein,
and do not wish to broaden the scope of discussion beyond history.

President Kocharyan clearly said to Prime Minister Erdogan that the
"suggestion to address the past cannot be effective if it deflects
from addressing the present and the future. In order to engage in
a useful dialog, we need to create the appropriate and conducive
political environment. It is the responsibility of governments to
develop bilateral relations and we do not have the right to delegate
that responsibility to historians. That is why we have proposed
and propose again that, without pre-conditions, we establish normal
relations between our two countries."

In that context, President Kocharyan said, "an intergovernmental
commission can meet to discuss any and all outstanding issues between
our two nations, with the aim of resolving them and coming to an
understanding."

Foreign Minister Gul’s recent comments to Radio Liberty, insisting that
the existence of flights between Armenia and Turkey, and of Armenian
citizens in Turkey, is evidence that ‘the borders are essentially open’
is disingenuous. First, the number of Armenians from Armenia living
and working in Turkey do not approach the numbers he claims. Second,
open borders assume direct contacts between peoples, unobstructed
relations across the border and a functioning transport infrastructure.

We stand by our response, which we consider to be a positive one and
we wonder whether the Turkish insistence on a historical commission
is genuine. After all, we have in fact agreed to discussions on all
issues, in the context of open borders.

Further, so long as Article 301, which criminalizes mere discussion
of the genocide topic, remains on the books in Turkey, an invitation
to open dialogue cannot be taken seriously. Finally, outside Turkey,
scholars – Armenians, Turks and others – have studied these issues
and have reached their own independent conclusions. The most notable
among these is the May 2006 letter to Prime Minister Erdogan by the
International Assn of Genocide Scholars wherein they collectively and
unanimously affirmed the fact of the Genocide and called on the Turkish
government to acknowledge the responsibility of a previous government.

In light of these complex realities, we can only repeat our readiness
to enter into dialogue and normal relations with our neighbor.