Opinion: The Visible Future
Shahan Kandaharian

Aztag Daily
May 22 2009
Lebanon

In the aftermath of April 22, almost not a day goes by without news,
an interpretation or an analysis being published in the Armenian media
about the declaration signed between official Yerevan and Ankara. In
the same scale and even larger this phenomenon is apparent in the
Turkish and Azerbeidjani media though they are also saturated by
topics targeting internal consumption and by different publications
having the purpose of misleading the public opinion. Unlike the other
two, the Armenian official newsflow or information is scarce and very
often absent. So much so that the dumb diplomacy of today is making
way for various interpretations.

Silence is not always beneficial. Specially in the case of sensitive
issues like those of today when the opposing side is actively involved
in making a display of distinct versions of information and when
the propaganda policy formed and implemented on governmental levels
manifests itself on every occasion.

Informing the public is basically important all the time and specially
in matters of this kind. Only a well-informed public can make objective
analyses in such matters. Even if multi-directional approaches cross
each other or collide with each other, nevertheless, the publication
of the precise facts plays a constructive role in making way for
healthy discussions. That in itself will forestall the aggravation
of the atmosphere of suspicion.

The president of Armenia announced that in the visible future he
will explain the points agreed upon in the road map, ensuring that
the stances taken by the Armenian side with respect to this process
will be applauded by the public opinion.

These days the media is full of assumptions, publications of the
points agreed upon, interpretations etc… Following all that and of
course what the Turkish media is offering, perhaps it’s possible to
sketch the contents of the road map as follows:

A- A reciprocal recognition of the borders

B- Opening of borders by Turkey

C- Establishment of diplomatic relations

D- Formation of inter-governmental committees

E- The mutual ratification of the agreed points

Let us once and for all state that we’re not talking about the exact
contents of the road map. We’ll know of the exact contents when the
agreed points are officially publicized. Our aim here is to shed
light on the assumed points circulating in the media and making our
own remarks on them.

The mutual recognition of the borders by the participation of the
international community, could be transformed into the recognition
of the territorial integrity of Turkey by a specially agreement. It
takes a conclusion based on legal analysis to consider this step as
a resignation from the territorial demand from Turkey.

The suggestion of the joint discussions on the inter-governmental
level is the answer of the previous president to the suggestion of the
Turkish prime minister concerning the formation of a joint historical
committee. Today there’s probably a real concern that the issue of
the historians is considered in the subject of the inter-governmental
committee as a sub-committee level work, and that naturally undermines
the international efforts for the recognition of the Genocide.

The sequence of the mentioned points could differ as could the
points in themselves. However, there’s one important point that
shouldn’t be missed. A point that was not mentioned in either of
the news publications or interpretations. It’s the overlooking of
the Azerbeidjani factor or the overlooking of the Turkish demand for
the withdrawal of the Armenian troops from Gharapagh territories. And
this despite the statements made by the Turkish prime minister both
in his country and in Azerbeidjan.

It seems that the main issue is an obvious victory in one of the
important stages of the Turkish tactical games. First of all, of
course, the chosen time interval, just before April 24, was not so
much to hurt the feelings of the Armenian people but to provide an
excuse for the representative of one of the greatest powers of the
world-order to avoid using the word §Genocide¦. And of course to
create a pretense for a negotiation process as well as to cloud the
facts. That’s why the Armenian side seems to have lost a point at
the time.

It’s obvious that the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide
will continue to be a priority in the foreign policy of the Armenian
state and at least in the visible future Armenia will not recognize
the territorial integrity of Turkey by a special agreement. There are
signs to confirm that the Armenian troops will continue controlling
the Gharapagh territories.

The publicizing of such sensitive topics is an imperative. The issues
are state issues but they equally concern the public as well and in
this case the pan-Armenian public. The informing of the public plays
a basic role in the objective discussions of such topics. It is also
important for assessing the true value of signing such a document in
the Turkish-Armenian relations section of the national security agenda.

The term §visible future¦ is an indistinct concept with respect
to assigning a time. One month has already passed from the date of
signing of the document. Given the promise of the document gaining
public consent, the exposition shouldn’t be delayed.