A NEW INCENTIVE
Shahan Kandaharian

Aztag Daily
July 21 2008
Lebanon

While the Turkish media is in a haste to reveal any developments
in the Turkish-Armenian relationships, to explain them and to put
interpretations into circulation, the Armenian side is restrained
about all that if not silent.

According to the Turkish media, of course, the new stage of secret
negotiations have begun in May on the level of deputy foreign minister
on Turkish side. It’s been published that Gul intends to visit the
Turkish-Armenian border region and the response to the invitation of
visiting Yerevan is to be given in consideration with the conditions
of the day, according to presidential officials. Let us not forget
that the Turkish response to president Sarksessian’s suggestion came
in multi-stages. First, it was announced that they hadn’t received an
official invitation; they would talk about it when they got it. Then,
they said that they had received it without any comments; they would
discuss it later and respond. And now they say that they will accept
or refuse according to the conditions of the day.

In its outer shell the visit to Ani or border regions could be seen as
related to securing a shift in Turkish-Armenian border issues. However,
when we read about the motives behind the visit, we get the exact
opposite impression. The goal of the visit is to make it a ceremony
for the onset of the construction of the Turkey-Georgia-Azerbeijan
railway. The goal behind that railway is to surpass Armenia and that
in itself is a confirmation of the landlock of Armenia.

Why does the president of Turkey want to manifest the "one step
forward, two steps backward" tactic? Whether we agree to the act
of inviting Turkey for a the football match between the Turkish
and Armenian national teams or not we must accept that Turkey is
facing a difficult situation vis-a-vis the international community
and Azerbeijan. It has an invitation to visit Yerevan and it can’t
respond; it has a call to open the border and it continues to refuse.

Let us concentrate on the European focal points and immediately
consider that a country negotiating for a European Union membership has
a closed border with Europe. Armenia, which is involved in projects
for the neighborhood of Europe, speaks with European norms. Borders
must be opened without any preconditions! Turkey places itself in
the position of a country rejecting the European norms.

With respect to the latest negotiations, we must wait for
the explanations of the Armenian side. We must not overlook the
possibility of them having started in May, although our journalistic
experience always tells us not to rely on Turkish initial sources. If
May is confirmed, then we can think that the statements made by
president Sarkessian in Russia and in the "Wall Street Journal"
concerning the new incentive were just announcements of already
started negotiations. It would be interesting to find out whether
there has been any talk about the formation of a joint committee of
historians during the inter-governmental talks in Switzerland or other
places and what has been the approach of the Armenian side, if such
a demand has ever been made. But if those are inter-governmental
meetings and negotiations, then that formula was the response of
former president Kocharian to the Turkish proposal of forming a joint
committee of historians … In that case the stance of the Armenian
side is received as a negotiating formula.

One more thing: it’s true that we shouldn’t count exclusively on
Turkish media news. It’s also true that all that cannot be considered
as fabrications. Official Yerevan is still silent about the supposed
process nevertheless it hasn’t publicly denied all that yet.

Obviously there’s a process of a new incentive. Let’s wait for the
publications of the Armenian side.