RIGHT-WING PARTY DEFIANT ON THORNY ISSUES

Hurriyet Daily News
Sept 10 2009
Turkey

Thursday, September 10, 2009 Vercihan Ziflioglu YEREVAN – Hurriyet
Daily News

Turkey wants Armenia to change its stance on thorny issues, such as
the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and ‘genocide’ issues,
says a top official from a right wing Armenian party, adding they will
not make concessions on these topics. Without progress on Karabakh,
borders will not be opened, he adds

While giving tacit support to normalization talks between Turkey and
Armenia, a senior Armenian right wing official said his party would
not make concessions on the long-standing territorial dispute over
self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh region or the alleged "genocide"
issue.

"Despite the fact that no Turkish preconditions were mentioned in
the protocols, Turkey still has them. The Turkish government wants
Armenia to backpedal on the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and the genocide
issue," said Levon Lazarian, member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation, or Dashnaktsutyun, and former deputy foreign minister
during the administration of Armenia’s second President Robert
Kocharyan. Dashnaktsutyun left Armenia’s governing coalition in April
in protest over the talks with Ankara.

Turkey and Armenia agreed on steps toward establishing full diplomatic
ties for the first time between the neighbors last month. The countries
will hold six weeks of domestic debate over the protocols, drawn up
under Swiss mediation, before they are submitted for ratification by
their parliaments, the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara said in a
statement on its Web site on Sept. 1. Armenia’s ministry issued an
identical announcement.

The first sign of rapprochement came in September last year, when
Turkish President Abdullah Gul went to the Armenian capital of Yerevan
to visit President Serge Sarkisian and watch a World Cup soccer
qualifying match between the two countries. Sarkisian is expected to
visit Turkey for a return match on Oct. 14.

The two neighbors have no diplomatic relations and their border was
closed in 1993 in response to Armenia’s invasion of 20 percent of
Azerbaijani territory and Armenia’s pressure on the international
community with the backing of its diaspora to support the genocide
claims, instead of accepting Turkey’s call to investigate the
allegations. U.S. President Barack Obama visited Ankara in April and
said he hoped efforts to normalize relations between the two would
"bear fruit."

Karabakh, border link

Lazarian, who also served as education minister between 1998 and
2001, said he believes that the border between Armenia and Turkey
would not be opened without progress in the Karabakh issue. "Turkey
places its loyalties with Azerbaijan. Without progress on Karabakh,
borders will not be opened and the Turkish Parliament will fail to
ratify the protocols," he said.

Turkey suggested that a committee of Turkish and Armenian historians
re-examine the events of 1915, which could open ways for Turks and
Armenians to come together by using archives in Turkey, Armenia and
other countries. Ankara has said the Turkish authorities would respect
the conclusions of such a task force, but the Armenian leadership has
rejected the overture, dismissing it as merely a political maneuver.

Commenting on the offer of a committee of historians, Lazarian said:
"Genocide is a fact and we, the Armenians spread all over the world,
are the living proof of that. The foundation of a committee would
mean Armenian suffering for a second time."

The stance among the Armenian politicians over the events of 1915 is
clear, no matter whether they are in the ranks of the ruling party
or the opposition, said Lazarian. "There is only one way for Turkey
regarding the solution of the problem: recognizing the genocide and
take its historic responsibility. Progress could be made, if Turkey
fulfills its responsibilities."

Settling a century of animosity between Turkey and Armenia would help
foster stability in the southern Caucasus, through which Caspian oil
flows to European markets, experts say. It may also boost Turkish
chances of achieving European Union membership and, predominantly,
improve the country’s relationship with the United States, where
congress has been pressed to push for Turkish recognition of the
1915 events.

Lazarian also criticized Western nations for their mediation role in
Armenian-Turkish negotiations, saying: "The West do have their own
political agenda for the Caucasus region. So, they have made swift
decisions on the Karabakh dispute. However, Karabakh has historical
links with Armenia and we don’t have any interest in abandoning
the region."