VARDAN OSKANIAN: "COMPLEXITY OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS LIES IN SYNTHESIS OF PAST AND FUTURE"

Noyan Tapan
Dec 20 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The complexity of the relations
between Armenia and Turkey lies in the synthesis of the burden of the
past and the imperative need for living together peacefully in the
region. This statement was made by Vardan Oskanian, the RA MInister of
Foreign Affairs, during his sppech made at the parliamentary hearings
held on the "Armenian-Turkish relations: Problems and perspectives"
subject on December 19.

According to him, the approach of Armenia is that it is necessary
to open the borders in order to settle the problems of the past and
establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without preconditions. And
Turkey suggests regulating the problems of the past before that: to
recognize its current borders, renounce the problem on the recognition
of the genocide and settle the Nagorno Karabakh issue in favour
of Azerbaijan.

In the words of the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs, the preconditions
of the Turkish side are beneath criticism from international and
legal point of view. According to Vardan Oskanian, the Nagorno
Karabakh antagonism is a problem between Karabakh and Azerbaijan and
Turkey cannot become a side of that antagonism by closing the border
and laying down conditions in front of Armenia. The Minister also
mentioned that Turkey has not the right for raising a question on
the recognition of the borders, since the Kars and Moscow treaties
are still in force, which distinctly outline the borders existing
between the two countries. The problem on the recognition of the
genocide, which is the main direction of the foreign policy of Armenia,
according to Vardan Oskanian, is the moral right of Armenia. As regards
the raising of a question on the genocide by the Armenians of the
Diaspora in the parliaments of the countries they live, that is the
domestic affairs of that country and Armenia cannot interfere in them.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress