AMERICA’S POSITIONS CHANGING
by Gevorg Harutyunyan
Hayots Ashkharh
Aug 5 2008
Armenia
[Correspondent] Finally Marie Yovanovitch has been approved to the
office of US ambassador to Armenia. How would you comment on this?
[Manoyan] The fact of the approval of the new ambassador in the
[US] Senate is interesting, as it is the consequence of an important
event. The matter is that there were senators until the last moment
who were ready to thwart or delay the approval of this candidacy as
well. Their behaviour changed after the Department of State forwarded
two statements to the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. Turkey is speaking about it [these statements] only now,
as it did not grasp their meaning at the moment.
According to one of the statements, the USA believes that the
Ottoman Empire was responsible for the events in Ottoman Turkey in
the beginning of the previous century [the killing of Armenians in
1915]. Until now it was said in all cases that the slaughter was
carried out on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, but it was not
specified who was responsible. Now it is stated that soldiers and
officials of the empire carried out everything.
The second statement of the Department of State clarified that
the initiative to establish a commission of Armenian and Turkish
archival scientists did not in any way question the facts that took
place, but ensured the best guarantee of preserving all the existing
archives. These two changes in the behaviour of the USA, in particular
of the Department of State, were the reason for the senators’ consent
to approve Marie Yovanovitch’s candidacy.
[Correspondent] How can this change in the USA’s positions influence
the issue of recognizing the Armenian genocide?
[Manoyan] I believe that the USA’s behaviour has changed
significantly. If the former candidate [for ambassador to Armenia
Richard] Hoagland implied that the sides should reconcile with their
past and have a dialogue, by saying reconciliation, Marie Yovanovitch
clearly states that Turkey should reconcile with its past.
It is clear that these changes are not a consequence of individual
approaches, but a consequence of the change in the behaviour of the
Department of State. From this point of view, I believe the recognition
of the Armenian genocide by the US president is not very far.
[Correspondent] Do you think [Turkish President] Abdullah Gul can
accept [Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan’s invitation and they
will watch the football match between the [Armenian and Turkish]
national teams on 6 September [in Yerevan]?
[Manoyan] It is important to state once again that the invitation
does not imply any changes in Armenia’s foreign policy regarding
the recognition of the Armenian genocide. Both the [Armenian]
president’s statement and the talks held between the Armenian and
Turkish delegations in Bern [Switzerland] are an attempt to achieve
progress in relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the invitation and the offer to establish an
Armenian-Turkish commission have created an impression that the fact
of the genocide is being questioned. This was denied both in Serzh
Sargsyan’s article published in the Wall Street Journal, and in
the statements of top officials. It became clear that the president
offered to establish a commission to discuss any issue after opening
the Armenian-Turkish border and establishing diplomatic relations. The
commission of historians will discuss not the fact of the genocide
but will restore the details of the genocide.
These positions are much more in tune with the policy that Armenia
has adopted and with the content of the letter of [former President]
Robert Kocharyan addressed to President [in fact, Turkish Prime
Minister] Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The issue of establishing an
intergovernmental commission was discussed in the letter. And
establishing an intergovernmental commission first of all implies
mutual recognition of the governments.
The Dashnaktsutyun has also said in its statement that no Armenian
president can doubt the fact of the Armenian genocide. At the same
time, it voiced concern over accepting any of Turkey’s preconditions
set in exchange for opening the borders, removing the blockade and
establishing diplomatic conditions. If there are preconditions,
then Armenia has much more grounds for setting both political, moral
and legal preconditions for Turkey. Finally, Armenia and Turkey will
not be the only states which will have both diplomatic relations and
territorial disputes. In this situation the Turkish government will
to some extent boost its foreign policy efforts.
This is an assumption, and I do not rule out that Gul may accept
Serzh Sargsyan’s invitation and will watch the game of the national
football teams at the Hrazdan stadium.