ERDOGAN MAKES CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN DIASPORA AND YEREVAN
Today’s Zaman
Jan 29 2009
Turkey
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday dismissed claims linking
a recent thaw in relations between estranged neighbors Turkey and
Armenia to the fact that April 24 — the day when Armenians commemorate
an alleged genocide perpetrated during World War I — is approaching,
with the Armenian-American diaspora more hopeful than ever about
official US recognition of the alleged genocide.
Erdogan was speaking at a press conference in Ankara ahead of his
departure for Davos for an annual meeting of the World Economic Forum
(WEF) when he was asked whether he planned to have talks with Armenian
President Serzh Sarksyan, who was also due to participate in the
WEF meeting.
"We may meet; there is no obstacle in front of this," Erdogan replied.
In a follow-up question, Erdogan was reminded that more than four
months had passed since President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan and that
April 24 was approaching and was asked whether he believed that Turkey
and Armenia had in the meantime made progress toward the normalization
of ties. "At the moment, there is no obstacle in front of a meeting
between us. We may hold a meeting," Erdogan reiterated. "That’s another
issue. But April 24 is also another issue. April 24 is no doomsday."
Armenians claim that up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered
in orchestrated killings during the last years of the Ottoman
Empire. Turkey categorically rejects the claims, saying that 300,000
Armenians along with at least as many Turks died in civil strife
that emerged when Armenians took up arms for the independence in
eastern Anatolia and sided with the Russian troops that were invading
Ottoman lands.
In 1993 Turkey shut its border with Armenia in a show of solidarity
with its close ally Azerbaijan, which was at war with Armenia over
the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Ankara wants Armenia to abandon its
campaign for the recognition of the killings as genocide and make
progress in its dispute with Baku before formal diplomatic relations
can be established.
But a visit by President Gul to Yerevan in early September to watch
a World Cup qualifying match between Turkey and Armenia’s national
soccer teams, upon an invitation by Sarksyan, broke the ice between
the two countries.
Every year, a few months before the US president delivers an
annual speech on April 24, the day on which Armenians commemorate
the alleged genocide, relations between Turkey and the US enter a
tense period. Recently, US-based Armenian diaspora organizations have
increased their pressure on US President Barack Obama for the official
recognition of Armenian claims of genocide. "We have displayed our
sincerity [for normalization of ties]. I’m always saying this;
as Turkey, we have opened our airspace to Armenia. Furthermore,
according to the information given to me, there are almost 40,000
undocumented Armenians in Turkey. These people came here because of
the poverty in their country. But we didn’t extradite them," Erdogan
said, referring to Armenians living in Turkey without work permits.
"We are a country that renovated and restored the Armenian Orthodox
church on the island of Akhtamar. We have always made gestures," he
said, referring to the fact that Turkey, in a symbolic move hoped at
the time to help ease longstanding animosity with Armenia, reopened
the ancient Akhtamar Church, located on an island in Lake Van in
eastern Anatolia, in March 2007 after three years of restoration.
"But of course, in addition to these efforts, the Armenian diaspora is
plotting. But we can see very clearly and sharply that their efforts
are aimed at utilizing [this issue]. This is obvious. But I also see
that the current administration in Armenia doesn’t take part in this,"
Erdogan stressed.
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, who departed for the Davos meeting on
Tuesday, told reporters that he might have a bilateral meeting with
his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, on the sidelines of the
WEF meeting.
During a special session on Gaza during his two-day stay in Davos,
Erdogan will have a chance to meet with Shimon Peres, the president of
Israel, which has been harshly criticized by Erdogan over its deadly
offensive in Gaza.