ARMENIA RESCHEDULES REGIONAL MEETING TO ACCOMMODATE TURKEY

Today’s Zaman
March 4 2009
Turkey

Armenia has rescheduled a foreign ministerial meeting of Black Sea
countries, apparently as a goodwill gesture to ensure Turkish Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan will be among the participants, diplomatic
sources have said.

Armenian authorities moved the date of the Organization of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) meeting from the previously announced
April 29 to April 16. The shift is significant because April 29 is
only a few days after April 24, which Armenians claim marks the
beginning of a genocide campaign against Anatolian Armenians in
the early 20th century. April 24 is also the day when US presidents
release a traditional message to commemorate the Armenian killings.

Armenian-American groups expect President Barack Obama to break with
presidential tradition and use the word "genocide" in his message this
year, given the strong promises he made to Armenian-American voters
during his election campaign that he would endorse the genocide claims.

Turkey is concerned that any US move to acknowledge the genocide
claims would deal a heavy blow not only to Turkish-US ties but also to
ongoing efforts to normalize relations with neighboring Armenia, with
which Turkey has had no formal ties since 1993. Ankara wants a change
in Yerevan’s policy toward the genocide recognition campaign under
way around the world before normalizing its ties with Armenia. Other
conditions posed by Turkey are peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and
formal Armenian recognition of its current borders with Turkey. Foreign
Minister Babacan said in an interview with Today’s Zaman this week
that Turkey and Armenia were closer than ever to resolution of their
dispute. Turkish and Armenian diplomats have been holding closed-door
meetings on restoration of ties since a landmark visit by President
Abdullah Gul to Yerevan in September.

Turkish officials have refrained from discussing whether Babacan will
attend the BSEC meeting. Although Ankara has a high opinion of BSEC
and wants to revitalize it as an influential regional consultation
mechanism, Babacan’s participation in the group’s next meeting in
Yerevan will still depend on Armenia’s commitment to the ongoing
rapprochement process and on the course of closed-door talks with
Armenia, officials say. The same officials also make it clear that
Turkey has made no request for the foreign ministerial gathering to
be rescheduled.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian traveled to Ä°stanbul to
attend the previous BSEC meeting held there. Nalbandian said then
that his country wanted to invite Babacan to the next BSEC meeting
in Yerevan. It is not clear whether a formal invitation for Babacan
has yet arrived.

Before the foreign ministerial gathering, BSEC countries are due
to hold ministerial-level working meetings also in Yerevan. The
energy ministers of BSEC countries will meet on March 13, while
the transportation and agriculture ministers will gather on March
27 and April 10, respectively. This means other Cabinet ministers
may visit Yerevan before Babacan. Diplomatic sources do not rule
out the prospect of ministerial visits to Armenia, underlining the
importance Turkey attaches to the BSEC functioning effectively. Turkey
has traditionally favored senior-level attendance at BSEC meetings,
and sources say Ankara is unlikely to scale down its role in BSEC
because of problems with Armenia.