ANCC RELEASED A STATEMENT ON PROTOCOLS BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
03.09.2009 01:35 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC)
issued a statement in regard to the protocols between Turkey and
Armenia. The full text of the statement, sent to PanARMENIAN.Net,
particularly says:
On August 31st, 2009, the foreign ministers of Armenia, Turkey and
Switzerland issued a joint announcement outlining the protocols that
will guide the establishment and development of relations between
Turkey and Armenia. The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC)
would like to express its serious concerns regarding this recent
development. The ANCC finds the content of the Protocols unacceptable,
because of the concessions made therein, which seriously threaten
the interests, rights, safety and future of the Republic of Armenia
and of the Armenian people in general.
The Protocols are clearly the result of ongoing pressure exerted on
Armenia to make concessions as preconditions to opening the border
between Armenia and Turkey and to establishing diplomatic relations
between the two countries.
In particular, the Protocols call the two countries to create a
"sub-commission on the historical dimension to implement a dialogue
with the aim to restore mutual confidence between the two nations,
including an impartial scientific examination of the historical
records and archives to define existing problems and formulate
recommendations…" The ANCC believes that this will be used by Turkey
to cast doubt on the historical record of the Armenian Genocide. The
word Genocide is in fact absent from the Protocols. By doing so,
there is a tendency to find a political solution to this crime
against humanity, to ignore the legal basis for the recognition on
the international level and to promote a solution that serves the
political interests of Turkey. Moreover, the undertaking by Turkey
of a genuine dialogue is questionable, given the current denialist
policy that the Government of Turkey is pursuing. Within i it is
carrying out the legal prosecution of those who dare discuss the
Armenian Genocide (Under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code,
making it illegal to insult Turkey, the Turkish ethnicity, or Turkish
government institutions). On the international level, it continues the
worldwide campaign of the denial of the Armenian Genocide including
the lobbying among other places, in the U.S Congress and the Canadian
Parliament at great expense. Furthermore, the Protocols’ language
regarding mutual recognition of existing borders, non-intervention,
territorial integrity and inviolability of frontiers may also be
used by Turkey to preclude the reparations in regard to legitimate
claims based on international law, as well as to counter and distort
current negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh
conflict.
ANCC believes that there should not be any such pre-conditions to the
establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of the border. Normal
and neighbourly relations between Armenia and Turkey can only be
based on Turkey’s acceptance of the Armenian Genocide, and on a true
and just resolution of this crime. Attaching such pre-conditions to
the establishment of diplomatic relations and to the opening of the
border demonstrates a clear lack of good faith on the part of Turkey
in choosing a path that leads to true neighbourly relations.
On behalf of the Armenian community of Canada, the ANCC wishes to
express opposition to these developments. Developments that ignore
the rights of the Armenian nation as a whole, which are based on
historical facts and international law.
"This announcement was imminent and we should not consider it
as a surprising move, given the April 22, 2009 announcement of a
provisional roadmap. The protocols issued on August 31st are vague
and unbalanced, in favour of Turkey. It proves that there is a lack
of commitment to establish a permanent peace between the two nations
and a desire to hinder work toward the worldwide recognition of the
Armenian Genocide." said the president of the Armenian N e of Canada,
Dr. Girair Basmadjian.
The ANCC favours the normalization of the ties between Armenia
and Turkey but without sacrificing the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide and the rights of the Armenian people. As Canadians where
our Senate in 2002, our House of Commons in 2004 and our Government
in 2006 have recognized the Armenian Genocide, we feel insulted:
these Protocols ignore the recognitions taken in Canada as well as in
other countries throughout the world and promote the campaign that is
aimed at hindering similar future decisions of recognition. The ANCC
encourages the Canadian Government to urge the Turkish Government to
face up to and come to terms with its own history by recognizing the
Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Young Turks on the eve of the
demise of the Ottoman Empire