ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS NOT A PRECONDITION FOR GOOD NEIGHBORLY RELATIONS OF TURKEY AND ARMENIA, VARDAN OSKANYAN
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 27 2006
"Acknowledgement of Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire in 1915 is not
a precondition for good neighborly relations of Turkey and Armenia",
Vardan Oskanyan, Foreign Minister of Armenia, said at the interview
with France-Presse.
Radio Liberty reports that V. Oskanyan is sure that the "interdiction
can be overcome by cooperation of Armenian and Turkish people". He
called "dubious" the proposal of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, to set up a joint commission of scientists-historians
to investigate the events of 1915-1917 in Ottoman Empire. "A joint
commission can’t be set up before diplomatic relations between official
Ankara and Yerevan are established. The question is a political one
and it should be treated accordingly. Turks have never before been so
mobilized, on the state level, about the negation policy", V. Oskanyan
pointed out. He added that Turkey’s aggression on Armenian Genocide
grows along with its acknowledgement by other countries. He pointed
out that French Parliament’s adoption of the law on criminalization
of denial of Armenian Genocide was a "definite response on Turkish
government’s policy of denial."
The Minister said that presently only acknowledgement of the Genocide
is in the agenda of Armenia’s foreign policy and that there should
be no fears about its demand for contribution.
He agreed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a serious obstacle in
Armenia’s relations with Turkey and that "Ankara’s definite solidarity
with Azerbaijan works against Turkey itself because it risks the
country’s credibility to take over the role of the East-West bridge."
Mr. Oskanyan disagreed with correlation of Nagorno-Karabakh and South
Cyprus due to that the first appeared in the result of USSR’s collapse
and the other – on the UN member-state’s territory. He agreed that
both Cyprus and Armenia see obstacles in Turkey’s membership in EU
but the two countries do not work against Turkey.
"We do have common questions we discuss but we do not unite against
anyone", emphasized Armenian Foreign Minister.