DASHNAKS CALL FOR END TO ARMENIA-TURKEY NEGOTIATIONS

Armenialiberty.org
Aug 25 2009

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, Dashnaktsutyun) has
reaffirmed its opposition to the current process of Armenian-Turkish
normalization, which it said contains "serious dangers" for Armenia
and therefore must be discontinued.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the ARF Executive Council
also reiterated its position that Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian is directly responsible for "diplomatic failures".

Armenia and Turkey embarked on an unprecedented rapprochement
last September after President Serzh Sarkisian invited his Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul to attend a World Cup 2010 qualifier between
the two national soccer teams in Armenian capital Yerevan.

Armenia declared then it would seek improved relations with Ankara
and the reopening of the border that has remained closed since 1993
based on an agreement reached "without any preconditions."

Armenia and Turkey announced a "roadmap" to normalizing bilateral
ties in April, but Sarkisian has been under fire from his political
opponents over a lack of tangible results in the process. Furthermore,
Turkey has appeared to increasingly link normalization to Armenian
concessions in the talks with Azerbaijan over the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a process that has been gaining momentum
simultaneously with the Armenian-Turkish dialogue.

Sarkisian himself indicated last month that he will not travel
to Turkey in October to watch the return match of the two
countries’ national soccer teams unless Ankara moves to reopen the
Turkish-Armenian border.

Ahead of the soccer match, the ARF calls for discontinuing the
negotiations which it says "are aimed at serving Turkish interests"
and not allowing Turkey "to meet its international commitments and
at the same time force Armenia to make concessions."

The nationalist party also announced a public rally in central Yerevan
on September 2, the day of the declaration of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic.

"In conditions of renewed activity in the negotiations [with
Azerbaijan], we must defend the victory of our people and force respect
for Nagorno-Karabakh’s self-determination," said the ARF, calling
for Nagorno-Karabakh’s return to the negotiating table as a full party.