TWO SEPARATE YET RELATED ANNOUNCEMENTS
Shahan Kandaharian

Aztag Daily
Jan 30 2009
Lebanon

Our readers must have noticed that lately our spotlights have been
fixed on the announcements made by the Turkish side. Particularly
Middle Eastern issues, the highs and lows of Israeli-Turkish relations
and of course the newest manifestations of the tactical game played
with respect to the Armenian issues have formed the overall "dossier"
of the opinions and approaches publicized by official Ankara.

In certain announcements coming from different official spheres of
Turkey you can see many direct or delicate contradictions. One of the
noteworthy factors in the Turkish foreign ministry stances concerning
the Armenian issues is the newest dynamism characterized by a pretense
of "peacefullness".

We’re referring to the announcements made by the foreign minister
and prime minister of Turkey almost simultaneously. SoAli Babacanthe
foreign ministerpredicts that in 2009 the unsolved issues hanging
between Armenia and Turkey will be solved. At a first glance it’s an
extreemly naïve or simplistic announcement made on the political
platformspecially that only considering the general preconditions
set by Turkey in the current year Armenia is expected to renounce
the recognition of the Armenian Genocideto pull back the Armenian
forces out of the "occupied" territories of Azerbeijanto officially
recognize the territorial integrity of Turkeyprobably through a
special agreement. Then and only then Turkey will end the blockade
of Armenia and the two countries will be able to establish diplomatic
relations (at the end the year or before that…?)leaving the opening
of embassies till next year…

The Turkish side has got the process of resolving the unsolved issues
the other way round though. Yesterday the Turkish prime minister
announced that they are getting prepared to discuss the foundations
of establishing diplomatic relations.

We were obliged to resort to humor when presenting Babacan’s
optimism. HoweverBabacan’s optimism doesn’t seem that naïve. That
statement complies with the rules of the tactic game played here.

The motivations of the announcement and the simplistic optimism get
clearer when we read between the lines of the latest announcement
that the prime minister madeunderlining a contradiction between the
moderate Armenia and the hard-liner Diaspora. That tactic has become
classicalin this case Babacan’s announcement has one clear message:
the Turkish side has no problems with the Armenian state.

The relations are in good terms. So much so that in the eyes of the
foreign minister all issues are to be resolved this year. Without
any conditionswithout any "if"s…The explanation of the "if" or
illustration of the conditions for this smooth process is left for
the prime minister. Only if the Diaspora doesn’t spoil it!

This label of being a "spoiler" more than the Diaspora organizations is
directed to the third party nationsthose that have either recognized
the Armenian Genocide or are on the verge of doing so. In earlier
announcements Babacan had warned the political spheres of France
and the United States not to interfere in the Turkish-Armenian
relationshipswhich have set off and are prospective. Interference
clearly refers to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Now
the same thing is being said. The Diaspora organizations must put
the lobbying on hold so that in one year all the obstacles found
in the Turkish-Armenian relationships will be resolved. At the
end of this yearwaiting till the last day of this yearall of usthe
political-official-public spheres of Armenia and the Diasporawill
inquire from the foreign minister of Turkey about the announcements
he made in the beginning of the year. The answer will surely be that
which the prime minister is saying today. OtherwiseTurkey itself will
have renounced its preconditions. Hardly possible…

–Boundary_(ID_S6E/hJfRBE1uNA5sQQ7YXw )–