WSJ, ICG AND ARMENIA’S SILENCE: A FAMILIAR FORMULA FOR A FAIT ACCOMPLI
By Ara Khachatourian

sj-icg-and-armenia%e2%80%99s-silence-a-familiar-fo rmula-for-a-fait-accompli/
Oct 7th, 2009

A constant has emerged in the suspense/surprise-filled processes that
have dominated our national agenda this past year. The Wall Street
Journal and the International Crisis Group have become harbingers of
sort for heralding a fait accompli for Armenia.

It was in late March that the Wall Street Journal reported on
the specifics of what became widely known as the "roadmap" to
Turkey-Armenia rapprochement. That report was immediately-if not
simultaneously-followed by a heavily biased report from a so-called
independent think tank known as the International Crisis Group.

Both foreshadowed a deal in mid-April that would pave the way for
the normalization of ties between Armenia and Turkey. Both reports
were also rife with hints at preconditions, including the need for
an immediate resolution to the Karabakh conflict, by way of alluding
to an agreement by Armenian and Azeri leaders about withdrawal of
Armenian forces from the liberated territories and the establishment
of a historic commission to study the Armenian Genocide.

Fast forward to October (the eve of a meeting between Serzh Sarkisian
and Ilham Aliyev on Thursday in Moldova and a previously announced
schedule for Armenia and Turkey to sign the protocols on Saturday)
and the Wall Street Journal prints an interview with Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who says that protocols will be signed
regardless of the outcome of the Moldova meeting and the ICG’s report
includes a multi-point assessment, which claims that Armenian and
Azeri leaders have already "broadly" agreed to a pullout and should
prepare their respective public for an eventual peace deal.

Erdogan also said the two processes – a resolution of the Karabakh
conflict and rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia – remain linked,
and that a positive outcome at this week’s talks, to be held in
Moldova, would help overall.

"This is perhaps the most important point – that Armenia should not
allow its policies to be taken hostage by the Armenian Diaspora,"
Erdogan told the Wall Street Journal.

Erdogan also reiterated earlier claims that an agreement has already
been reached on the withdrawal from five of the seven liberated
territories, with the fate of Lachin and Kelbajar, reportedly, still
up in the air.

On the heels of these reports also came an announcement late Tuesday
by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, inviting world historians to a
commission that is tasked to study the Armenian Genocide.

"There are all sorts of allegations about what happened a century
ago. It is clear that people who do not know what happened where or
how are not able to take decisions on this matter," Gul said in an
interview with Agence France Presse.

"What we hope is that historians, archive specialists study this matter
and we are ready to accept the conclusions of this commission. To
show that we are sincere, we even said that if a third country is
interested in this matter, if French historians, for example, want
to take part in this commission, they are welcome," he added on the
eve of a visit to France.

President Sarkisian has spent a better part of his week on Diaspora
tour telling his audiences in Paris, New York, Los Angeles,
Beirut and the Russian port city of Rostov that such a commission
is not stipulated in the protocols and assuring that whatever
historical discussion that is to take place, within the framework
of Armenia-Turkey ties, would be a discussion of post-Genocide
historical matters.

Gul’s statements are seen as a direct challenge to Sarkisian’s
assertions during his tour, which was met with angry protests
during all but one stop: the Russian city of Rostov. There, leading
Russian-Armenian organizations issued an announcement opposing the
protocols’ provisions that

If an agreement is to be signed on Saturday clearly there is a major
disconnect between the signatories.

While in Beirut, Sarkisian stressed that the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide is "not only a matter of the restoration of justice,
but also a major circumstance from the viewpoint of the security of
Armenia and the Armenian people." "It is a necessity," the president
stressed.

Furthermore, he underscored: "The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will
get a solution only when we see that we’ve got what our people have
struggled for since 1988."

Gul’s blatant denial of the Genocide also goes counter to President
Obama’s wide support for the protocols, since he urged Turkey in
March to come to terms with its own history and acknowledge the past.

At press time, official Yerevan had no comment.

It is precisely for these and other more overbearing reasons that
Armenia should immediately pull out of this process and not enter
into such a critical agreement so hastily.