Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am, Armenia
Aug 29 2009

Armen Gevorgyan: Armenian President’s refusal to visit Turkey present
to Baku

12:21 / 08/29/2009Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s refusal to visit
Turkey would be a `primitive’ way out of the present situation in the
Armenian-Turkish relations, the political analyst Armen Gevorgyan told
NEWS.am. According to him, this would be the very the step Baku and
Ankara are expecting of the Armenian leader. `President’s refusal to
visit Turkey will put an end the modern history of Armenian-Turkish
dialogue, which will be to Azerbaijan’s delight,’ the expert said.

Gevorgyan believes that the Armenian President must visit Turkey and
state the Armenian side’s goodwill despite the Azerbaijani and Turkish
politicians’ `counterproductive’ actions and statements.

`The Turkish side presents Abdullah Gül ‘s visit to Yerevan as
its constructive step, ignoring the fact that Gul could not visit
Armenia without being invited. Thus, Turkey’s constructive step was
the result of a good-will gesture made by Yerevan,’ Gevorgyan said. He
also pointed out that paying visits and watching football matches
cannot be an end in itself in interstate relations. So the Armenian
President stated that the border must be reopened.

`If the unblocking of the border is made conditional on the settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Sargsyan has nothing to discuss with
Gul in Turkey. Armenia and Turkey will not be discussing the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. But it is such a discussion that Turkish
politicians are inciting Sargsyan to by linking the two issues with
each other,’ Gevorgyan said.

According to him, the Armenian-Turkish dialogue is only possible
within the `roadmap’ agreed on by the two foreign offices ` `and
nothing can be discussed without the roadmap.’ However, the Armenian
President’s refusal to visit Turkey will be a `coat off the master’s
back’ for Azerbaijan and Turkey, which will at once construe Yerevan’s
decision as an attempt to avoid a dialogue. But, it will actually be
the result of coordinated actions by Baku and Ankara aimed at
frustrating the prospects for improving the situation in the region.

Gevorgyan mentioned yesterday’s telephone conversation between the
Azerbaijani President and the Turkish Premier. The two discussed steps
to thwart the Armenian President’s visit to Turkey. `This is a rather
grave problem for both Turkey and Azerbaijan, as they are seriously
pressured in this context,’ Gevorgyan said. Under the circumstances,
`Armenian diplomats must not take primitive steps.’ `A further
dialogue with Turkey in defiance of her will is a step to be welcomed
worldwide, while Turkey’s refusal to fulfill the roadmap commitments
is a position to be noticed and denounced by the international
community,’ the expert said.

On the other hand, the Armenia leader’s refusal to visit Turkey will
give occasion to a sharper criticism of his foreign policy by the
Armenian Opposition. `Like in any other country, the Armenian
Opposition’s principle is `the worse the better’. So the once ardent
proponents of Sargsyan’s visit to Turkey are now urging him to
refuse. Others are declaring utopian ideas, trying to implant
radicalism in society. The Armenian Opposition’s actions also show
signs of primitivism and, to a considerable extent, malicious
intent. They are eager to declare the failure of the very initiative
of the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, what is known as &`football
diplomacy’. They could not care less what happens later,’ Gevorgyan
said.