ASHOT GRIGORIAN: RUSSIAN-TURKISH AGREEMENT IS HIGHLY HARMFUL NOT ONLY TO ARMENIA BUT ALSO TO RUSSIA

Noyan Tapan

Dec 9, 2008

BRATISLAVA, DECEMBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The Russian-Turkish agreement is
highly harmful not only to Armenia but also to Russia. The Chairman
of the Forum of Armenian Unions of Europe and the Armenian community
of Slovakia Ashot Grigorian expressed this opinion when summarizing
the results of the European Union – Turkey forum held in the Polish
city of Sopot on December 5-6. During a talk with NT correspondent,
he presented the following details:

"The issues of leaving Russia out of all the energy programs were
discussed at the forum’s sittings on economic subjects, and the
impression was that this was the main meaning of the forum.

The Turkish participants spoke about the wide opportunities of Turkey
which enable to lay pipelines of all power-bearing substances from Asia
to Europe, while passing round Russia. However, after Igor Tomberg,
a famous professor of the Moscow Institute of International Relations,
had presented quite credible facts, the Turkish program of energy
diversification became much more vulnerable. Prof. Tomberg first of
all stated that the information about the amounts of Azerbaijani
gas and oil is extremely exaggerated: at best, they make up only
one-third of the amounts necessary for Europe. As regards the gas
of Turkmenistan or Kazakhstan, Russia is not going to allow laying
a trans-Caspian pipeline due to strategic and ecological problems.

Then the professor announced a very important, if not shocking,
information, according to which on the fourth day of the
Georgian-Ossetian war, a definite agreement was reached between the
Turkish prime minister Erdogan and the Russian president Medvedev
on the following issues: Turkey would defend Russia’s position with
respect to Georgia, while Russia would allow Turkey to play a new
role in the South Caucasus, and Russia and Turkey would cooperate in
the energy sector on conditions of maintaining the bilateral interests.

The following conclusions can be made from the above said:
traditionally being an unreliable partner, Turkey, at the suggestion of
improving its relations with Russia, has left aside its South Caucasian
partners in recent years – Azerbaijan and Georgia, pursuing its own
interests. By giving a consent to Turkey to enter the South Caucasus,
Russia ignored the interests of its strategic partner – Armenia.

After analysing the proposals of the Turkish delegation, it became
clear that Turkey is playing a short-term game of forcing Russia to
its knees, however, it is trying to do so in the hope of gaining the
European Union’s trust.

The new process of Armenian-Turkish relations formed at Turkey’s
dictation has become now entirely clear. The reason for Turkey’s
highly toughened position on the Genocide issue and its resolute
statements on intervening in the Karabakh problem have become
entirely perceptible. The Armenian delegation witnessed this at the
Sopot forum when famous Turkish diplomat and deputy of the Great
National Assembly Mustafa Sukru Elekdag said in his speech that he
was surprised at how such an ungrateful country as Armenia can be
allowed to go as far as not to appreciate Turkey’s impartial position
on the Karabakh problem. Then he declared that "it is the result of
Turkey’s not dealing a counterblow to the false rumors of not the
genocide but even the deportation that Armenia also has territorial
claims to Turkey, up to the extent that the Armenians consider Mount
Ararat as their mountain".

The Turkish deputy nearly shouted these statements, gasping with
excitement and rage. True, in his speech he underlined the issues
raised by the Armenian delegation composed by the head of the
RA National Assembly "ARF" faction head Vahan Hovhannisian, the
Armenian ambassador to Poland Ashot Galoyan and the political scientist
Hovhannes Nikoghosian, calling attention of the authoritative audience
to these issues and thus doing a good service.

At the same time it became clear that it is at least naive to expect,
by European notions, a normal and civilized behavior from the Turks
in the neighborhood issue. The primitive diplomatic games of Turkey
are based on their traditional experience of deceiving their partners
and neighbors, which, however, cannot give a positive result to them
under conditions of the current diplomatic perceptions.

I think that in the light of the above said, our political figures
who have drawn a new way of Armenia’s foreign policy should come to
important conclusions".