RAPPROCHEMENT WITH TURKEY REQUIRES PUBLIC DEBATE – ARMENIAN PRESIDENT

Interfax
Sept 17 2009
Russia

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said he would promote a public
debate on the normalization in Armenian- Turkish relations.

"Various formats have been offered for the coming weeks, and I myself
will be an initiator and participant in the discussions," Sargsyan
told political party leaders during consultations on ways to settle
relations with Turkey, according to the presidential press service
on Thursday.

"I have thoroughly studied various opinions, [which have been] voiced
publicly. I have heard positive and encouraging calls, I have heard
criticism, including sharp criticism, and I have heard concerns.

If course, I see the risks and I have my own concerns. But in order to
compare our concerns, to assess the risks correctly and to understand
them we will have to do a great deal of work, we must manage to bring
all our criticism together, he said.

"When inviting the Turkish president to Armenia and initiating the
whole process, I pursued two goals – to open a window of opportunity to
settle bilateral relations, and to demonstrate that Armenia as a nation
that has gone through the horrors of genocide, and being faithful and
committed to the pain of its people, is strong enough to be the first
to hold out its hand and say that it is senseless to move against
the current development of the world," the Armenian president said.

Tensions between Armenia and Turkey "are not a war between the upper
leaders," he said.

"I do not deem the assertion of diplomatic relations with Turkey and
the opening of the border to be the minimum or maximum programs. I
see the finalization of these processes exclusively as the minimal
environment for starting a dialogue with the Turks," he said.

On August 31, Armenia and Turkey announced they had tentatively signed
protocols on the establishment of diplomatic relations and promotion
of ties between the two countries. Before the protocols are signed
and ratified by the two parliaments, they must be discussed nationwide.

The Armenian president’s consultations on Thursday involved the
leaders of 52 political parties.

Meanwhile, the Armenian revolutionary federation Dashnaktsutyun
expressed discontent with the current consultations and its spokesman
Armed Rustamian told the press that no changes will be made in the
Armenian-Turkish protocols before their signing.