Turkey makes strange demands of ROA to establish diplomatic relns

PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkey makes strange demands of Armenia to establish
diplomatic relations

Turkey has found itself in a rather difficult
situation: on the one hand Turkey is already tired of
waiting for 10-15 more years to be integrated into the
EU; on the other hand, this idea seems too tempting to
give it up. The demands of the EU after all are no
fancy but necessity for the Turkish officials. As it
has already been said more than once, Turkey must
prove by its actions and not by words that the country
has chosen the democratic way of development.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According to the European
Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, now Turkey is
suffering the most crucial moment in the entire
negotiation process, `however, if it continues
actively carrying out European reforms, the country
may be integrated into the EU in 10 years. We are
waiting for the time when there will be freedom of
speech for each person, and protection of the rights
of women and minorities. Active efforts should be made
for this. We shouldn’t hope that these and alike
problems will ever be solved on their own,’ announced
Rehn.

The vice-chairman of the Bavarian Christian-Social
Union and the representative of the European
Parliament Ingo Friedrich spoke of the third possible
way for the non-EU member countries. Likewise the
Union for the Mediterranean, an East European Union
may be established. According to him, Ukraine, Moldova
and the countries of South Caucasus could be included
in such a union. `At present the EU has exhausted all
the possibilities of expanding, but leaving the
European countries without prospective would be
unfair,’ says Friedrich. The idea of establishing a
Union for the Mediterranean has been first spoken of
in March. Besides the EU member countries, a number of
countries of the Mediterranean region will be included
in it. Turkey, Libya, Lebanon, and Israel are among
these countries. Regular conferences in the sphere of
energy, migration, terrorism and trade are planned to
be held. The Union will be officially declared about
in July.

What concerns the normalization of the relations with
Armenia, such opportunity is rather doubtful, if only
Yerevan doesn’t deny the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide committed by the Turks, which is not to be
expected. `The position of the Armenian side towards
the dialogue with Turkey is still unclear, in spite of
Ankara’s calls to the start of a new era in the
two-sided relations between the two neighboring
countries, which presently do not have any diplomatic
relations,’ writes Turkish Daily news in its article
`Armenia is indifferent to the Turkish calls for
dialogue.’ The author of the article mentions that the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Ali Babacan
congratulated the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Armenia on his appointment. `Turkey is open to
dialogue, and to the normalization of the
Turkish-Armenian relations. There are no doubts that
the relations of the two countries are not very
healthy, but this can be solved via dialogue. We are
open to it,’ said Babacan during a joint
press-conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Austria Ursula Plassnik. Earlier the Minister of
Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan announced:
`Regarding our relations with Turkey, we have
announced more than once that we are ready for
normalization of the relations without any precedent
conditions. The Genocide is a black page in our
history, and we must work together and turn this page
and build our stable future. I would like to repeat
that Armenia is ready for the normalization of its
relations with Turkey without precedent conditions.
Armenia will continue working towards this.’

Turkish Daily News also quotes the words of an
Armenian diplomat, who had preferred to remain
anonymous, and who said that the calls for the
dialogue must not be only in words, but in actions.
`We are waiting for some actions,’ had said the
Armenian diplomat, and then added, that Armenia keeps
to its viewpoint regarding the normalization of the
relations and opening the Armenian-Turkish borders
without precedent conditions. `This is only one of the
key factors. This is nonsense, when a country, being a
candidate for the EU membership, keeps the borders
with its neighbor closed,’ he said.

The newly elected president of Armenia Serge Sargsyan
also mentioned that the recognition of the Genocide by
Ankara is extremely important for Yerevan, but its
denial shouldn’t be a barrier in the relationship of
the two countries. `We have always said and will say
that Armenia is ready and willing to establish
diplomatic relations with Turkey without any precedent
conditions. It is Turkey, that sets rather strange
demands to Armenia for establishing diplomatic
relations,’ he said.

Meanwhile on April 21 the Committee for International
Issues of the European Parliament held hearings on the
traditional report about the `progress’ in Turkey. The
members of the Committee reviewed the project of the
Resolution of the Dutch parliamentarian, as well as
the 262 amendments in the document. The current
document is not as laconic, as the one from last year,
which was a gesture of a good will to the new
government of Turkey, yet it is far from the
expectations the Europeans have, since it reminds of
the serious violations by the Turks. Like in the
section `international relations’, the project of the
Resolution calls the Turkish government on abolishing
the economic blockade and opening the borders with
Armenia, but refrains from blaming Turkey. As for the
issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the
author avoids using the term `Genocide’ and limits
himself with `the call to the Turkish and Armenian
governments on starting the process of coming to an
agreement over the present and past problems and the
initiations of the debates of the historical events.’
`This wording definitely belongs to Ankara. The denial
of reminding the Genocide means denying the Genocide
itself,’ said the president of the Armenian Federation
of Europe Hilda Choboyan. The EAFJD reminds that the
position of the European Parliament, confirmed in 1987
and 2005, presupposes the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide as a precondition for Turkey to be integrated
into the EU. Meanwhile, Ankara has never reached any
success in this issue, and any indulgence is
interpreted by Turkey as a free way to carry on the
policy of denial not only in Turkey, but in Europe as
well. The 6 out of the 262 amendments have immediate
connection to the Armenian case, in particular, to the
problem of the Armenian Genocide.
«PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical department