THE PATH TO RAPPROCHEMENT
Isabel Gorst
FT
April 23 2009 19:41
Serzh Sarksyan, president of Armenia, told the FT in an interview
earlier this month that the opening of the dialogue with Turkey –
which led to this week’s framework agreement – marked "the biggest
achievement" of his presidency.
An historic deal announced on Wednesday night sets out a road map for
the normalisation of ties between the two countries, paving the way
for the reopening of the Turkish/Armenian border that has isolated
Armenia for almost two decades.
It could also end Armenia’s exclusion from strategic transport projects
to bring Caspian oil and gas across the South Caucasus to the west.
"Our primary concern is to eliminate the feeling of animosity between
Armenia and Turkey to allow us to spend resources on development and
not animosity," Mr Sarkysan told the FT ahead this week’s announcement.
Turkey shut its border with Armenia in 1993 to demonstrate
solidarity with its ally Azerbaijan, which was in a violent conflict
with Armenian-backed separatists over the breakaway enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh has been under Armenian control since Russia brokered
a fragile ceasefire in 1994, although Azerbaijan has vowed to restore
its territorial integrity.
Mr Sarksyan ruled out any pre-conditions for the rebuilding of
ties with Turkey despite insistence by Turkish officials that the
rapprochement was dependent on resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.
He sees no quick fix for the conflict, although a settlement drawn up
by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Minsk
Group offers "a good basis for continuing talks in the region".
Security concerns have so far persuaded investors to bypass Armenia
when building pipelines across the South Caucasus to bring Caspian
oil and gas to the west by a non-Russian route.
Mr Sarksyan said the war between Russia and Georgia last summer
exposed the vulnerability of pipelines in the area, and could provide
an opening for Armenian involvement in energy transit.
"The war in Georgia has demonstrated that alternative routes are a must
in the region, not just for us but for Azerbaijan as well," he said.
European diplomats said Russia, which controls Armenia’s railway and
gas pipeline network, might promote the building of new energy export
routs across the country.
Mr Sarksyan looks back with pride on the football match between
Armenia and Turkey in Yerevan last September which marked the start
of a rapprochement between the two countries.
The match, a suit and tie occasion, was not marred by any spectator
protests, despite Turkey’s win.
"It was our initiative," he said.
Opposition leaders said the government has used the Turkish rapprochem
ent to distract attention from economic and political problems
in Armenia.
Ten people died when police cracked down on street protests that
erupted in Yerevan after Mr Sarksyan won a general election in February
2008 that the opposition says was falsified.
An economic downturn caused by the global financial crisis could
provoke further social unrest.
Falling earnings from commodity exports together with a drop in
remittance payments from Armenian’s working abroad are expected to
drive economic growth to near zero this year from 6.8 per cent in
2008 and 13.8 per cent in 2009.
Nerses Yeritsyan, the economy minister, said the opening of the border
with Turkey would end Armenia’s dependence on Georgia as a land route
to the west and draw more foreign investors to the country.