RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN THE SPHERE OF THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA IN 1998-2008?
by Armen Badalyan

Azg
Oct 8 2008
Armenia

To pave the way for moral recognition, the Armenian government will
have to appeal to foreign intelligentsia, whereas legal recognition
would require parliaments’ approval. If aiming for legal recognition,
Armenia should draw up a list of successors to the victims of the
genocide, Badalyan suggests.

Badalyan says that every type of recognition has its own goal and
one cannot expect economic compensation from moral recognition.

He regretted the Armenian government never made it clear what kind
of recognition it is after. It is not clear either what officials
the Foreign Ministry has assigned to deal with this issue and how
much money has been allocated.

He downplayed the idea that Turkey will give up its eastern territories
which Armenia considers itself entitled to, describing such return
as "unfeasible", although the idea itself is wide-spread among the
Armenian public, according to him. He says that Turkey fears that
Armenia will demand the return of these territories, if the genocide
is recognized, because one of Turkey’s preconditions to establishing
diplomatic relations with Armenia is the recognition of its territorial
integrity. Badalyan said that while considering the issue whether
Armenia is a legal successor to the previously existing republic,
one should take into consideration the fact that Armenia proclaimed
its independence from the USSR as a new independent state and not as
legal successor of the previous republic, as Georgia, Baltic States
and Azerbaijan did.

Even though Armenia has not recognized Turkish border by now, it has
not explained its legal precession either, he said. A reason behind
this could be the absence of talks with Turkey on the matter from
1998 to 2008, he added.

Badalyan pointed out that negotiations over the Karabakh conflict
do not keep Azerbaijan from discussing this issue to its benefit in
different international entities, while Armenia has not spelled out
its position on territories currently under its control, especially
with regard to the "the historically Armenian district of Karvachar".

Badalyan concluded that in 1998-2008 the Armenian government did not
make enough for the "real settlement" of the issue of the Armenian
genocide. He said that removing the symbol of the Mount Ararat from
the uniform of the Armenian national football team during the match
between the Armenian and Turkish teams showed that the recognition
of the genocide was not a priority in Armenia’s foreign policy "cheap
political trick".