ARMENIA’S EX-FM SORRY FOR SIGNER OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Sept 22 2009
Armenia

The former Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian sometimes
feels envy, but not for Armenian diplomacy. "But I do for Turkish
diplomacy. I would never dare put a document like that on the
negotiating table. I would not sign it, and I am not envious of the
person that is to do it," Oskanian stated at a discussion organized
by the Civilitas Foundation.

Speaking of the initialed Armenian-Turkish Protocols, Oskanian said:
"Reading the Protocols one arrives at the conclusion that someone
and somewhere wrote them with Turks’ participation and then imposed
on the Armenian side or the Armenian side was actually involved in
working them out being convinced that Armenia’s further existence
and development depends on the reopening of the Armenian-Turkish
border." According to him, it is not the signing of the documents that
is unacceptable – they might be acceptable with a sentence or a couple
of phrases removed. Oskanian also reminded the attendees that more than
190 countries have territorial problems. "A fourth of them in Europe,
but they have embassies, mutual trade, and diplomats, respecting one
another, continue negotiating and discussing different interpretations
of historical facts and territorial claims," Oskanian said.

He took Georgia as an example. "In our region we did not recognize
the border with friendly, brotherly Georgia. "Only now are the two
states demarcating the frontier. Georgia and Azerbaijan did not
recognize the common border, and demarcation is not in progress,
but they have diplomatic relations," Oskanian said.

He is surprised at the fact that Armenia’s incumbent authorities
either fail to see the real state of affairs or are unwilling to
admit their different meaning. "For fifteen years Turkey has been
maintaining the blockade, hoping for Armenia to grow economically and
politically weak. It has never happened nor will. Rather, it is they
that have to get out of the complicated political situation they have
found themselves in. They need to reopen the border and seem to have
found the way of doing it thanked to us. It is they that are under
Europe’s powerful pressure because of the ‘admission schedule’. They
need to reopen the border because they have urgent economic problems in
their eastern regions. It is they that are experiencing great fear of
the progressing process of international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, which died down under the USA’s pressure. Finally, it is
they need to reopen the border to underline their decisive role in
the region. Despite all that, it is our authorities that are making
concessions to speed up the process. If the authorities initially
failed to show foresight not to get into the present situation,
they must at least find a way of saving the situation now."