ARMENIA, TURKEY BORDER WAS DETERMINED BY 1920 SEVRES TREATY, SAYS MANOYAN
Haber Gazete, Turkey
/armenia.htm
Dec 20 2007
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–The Armenian National Assembly Thursday
began two days of hearings on Turkey-Armenia relations, during which
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Political Director said the border
between Turkey and Armenia was drawn by the 1920 Sevres Treaty,
to which the Ottoman Empire was a signatory.
In testimony presented to the hearing, Giro Manoyan said that Armenia,
as a member of several international organizations, has recognized
the borders inherited from the Soviet Union, whereas the legal border
is the one outlined by the internationally adopted 1920 Sevres Treaty.
He suggested that the National Assembly adopt legislation that
prohibits the Armenian government from signing any treaty or document
that does not recognize the boundaries set by the Sevres Treaty.
Manoyan also recommended that preliminary programs be implemented to
engage the executive and legislative branches in the discussion of
the aforementioned argument within the international community.
Manoyan also said the closure of the border by Turkey was key factor
in addressing Turkey-Armenia relations, adding that Turkey’s failure
to recognize the Armenian Genocide and adopt measures for proper
reparations and restitutions also impeded the process of normalizing
relations.
He also emphasized that the 16-year history of the Republic of Armenia
has demonstrated that threats and short-term or temporary steps do
not yield tangible results in this process.
The Parliamentary hearings were initiated by the National Assembly’s
Standing Committee on Foreign Relations and are scheduled to last
for two days.
Participating in the hearings were the Foreign Relations Committee
Chairman and ARF Supreme Body Representative Armen Rustamian, the
Speaker of the National Assembly Tigran Torosyan, Vice Speaker and
Presidential Candidate Vahan Hovannesian, the Director of Turkish
Studies at the Armenian Oriental Institute Ruben Safrastian, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, EU Special Representative Peter
Semneby, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk
Demoyan, and a number of other politicians, foreign diplomats, and
representatives from Armenia’s intelligentsia. A journalist from the
Turkish Armenian Weekly Agos was also present.
Also invited to the two-day hearings were two dozen prominent Turks,
including Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and Nobel Prize-winning novelist
Orhan Pamuk. But none of have accepted the invitation.
Committee Chairman Rustamian outlined that the purpose of the hearings
is to clarify the reasons of the current crisis in the Armenian-Turkish
relations, to assess the nature of the existing problems and to make
clear the opportunities and mechanisms of parliamentary diplomacy in
the normalization of relations.
"This hearing is long over due," he said. "There has been no issue that
has had such significance in the history of our nation–for its past,
present and future. It was clear that our parliament had to engage
in such process to clarify its goals. I am expecting comprehensive,
deep and interested discussions."
Rustamian added that the lack of relations between the two countries
exceeds the boundaries of the two states and have a great impact on
contemporary geopolitical developments. The Parliament had to get
involved in the process, he said.
During his speech at the hearing, Vice Speaker Hovannesian, a member
of the ARF Bureau, stated that Armenian-Turkish relations have entered
a dead-end.
"As long as Talaat Pasha, Enver and Jamal are seen as national heroes
in Turkey, "nothing will change," he added.
"There has never been cooperation between a dictatorship and a
democracy," he said during his speech at the hearing. "We are not
saying Armenia is a classic democracy but Turkey is a classical
example of a totalitarian regime."
"Like a dictatorship, Turkey tries to control not just the present,
but also the past, he said. "This is the reason why any serious
investigations into the Armenian Genocide and its reasons are barred,
while any information about these events is forcefully denied to
Turkish society." Turkish society needs the truth, he added.
The parliamentary hearings must lead to a consensus on what Armenia
expects from Turkey, Hovannesian stated. The hearings must lay out
what Armenia considers to be proper reparations and retributions and
the Turkish Parliament should be informed about it, he added.
Hovannesian added that reforms in Turkey are being made in a
distorted fashion. Turkey’s admission in the EU will be a defeat,
he added. Turkey will not adopt European values. Instead, Europe will
end up adopting Turkish values, which are completely alien to the EU.
Turkey cannot hope to achieve European values and become a member
of the EU unless it establishes an Armenian Genocide Museum in
Ankara. The Turkish youth need to be given a possibility to get
acquainted with one of the darkest chapters of their history, added
Demoyan. According to the Armenian Genocide Museum Director, today’s
Turkey is not able to recognize the Armenian Genocide, as history
because an artificial reality was created for Turkey and it serves
as the backbone of Turkish nationalism.
Foreign Minister Oskanian said Turkey’s precondition that Armenia
must abandon genocide recognition is inadmissible for Armenia.
"Turkey wants fulfillment of its preconditions first and only then
establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of the border." he
said during his address to the committee. "Show me a European state
which kept borders closed because of problems with neighbors."
Oskanian said, Turkey’s entry to the EU "would be good for us in
the political, economic and moral senses." But he made it clear
that Armenia believes it should happen only after Ankara drops its
preconditions for establishing diplomatic relations with Yerevan
and opening the Turkish-Armenian border. He said his government is
worried that the EU will be more lenient towards the Turks than it
was towards the former Communist states of Eastern Europe.
"Our concern is whether the EU will be as fair and demanding as it
was towards other [nations seeking EU membership] or will take a
political decision on Turkey’s membership for other considerations,"
he said. "The international community rates opening of the border as
the primary condition. Show me a European state which kept borders
closed because of problems with neighbors," the Minister said.
"Any country would want its neighbor to be predictable and act within
the framework of a clear value system," said Parliament Speaker
Torosian, who is also a leading member of Sarkisian’s Republican
Party. But he rejected Turkish demands that the Armenian Diaspora stop
campaigning for international recognition of the Armenian genocide
and Turkey’s compliance with EU standards.
While the EU stands for an unconditional normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relations, it has not included the issue on the
agenda of its accession talks with Ankara.
Peter Semneby, the EU’s special representative to the South Caucasus,
avoided any criticism of the Turkish policy on Armenia as he spoke
during the hearings. He said instead that Yerevan should not be
worried about a growing Turkish presence in the region.
"It’s in Armenia’s interests that Turkey plays a larger role in the
South Caucasus and that it gets a stake in the well being of the
whole region," Semneby said.
Torosian, however voiced his concern that Turkey’s decision to not
participate in the discussions would not contribute to dialogue.