Clinton Helps Salvage Turkey-Armenia Pact

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ZURICH, Oct. 10, 2009

Signing Ceremony for Accord Opposed by Hardliners Back on After Dispute
Over Statements; Clinton, Swiss Mediators Intervene

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton engaged in last-minute
diplomacy on Saturday aimed at salvaging an accord to establish
diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia after a century of
enmity.

The agreement was supposed to be signed by the Turkish and Armenian
foreign ministers at a reception in the Swiss city of Zurich, with
Clinton among the world dignitaries in attendance. But
a dispute over the statements the countries would make sparked a delay,
and forced her to intervene.

"She’s involved in working out an agreeable text," said a senior U.S.
State Department official. "She’s talking with the Armenian foreign
minister, and she had a long talk with the Turkish foreign minister."

Clinton and the Armenian delegation arrived at the signing ceremony
about 90 minutes after it was supposed to begin. Clinton had abruptly
returned to her hotel just before the scheduled start as problems
emerged.

Diplomats said the Armenians were concerned about wording in the
Turkish statement that was to be made after the signing ceremony.

The Turks and Armenians are to sign an accord establishing diplomatic
ties in hope of reopening their border and ending a century of acrimony
over their bloody past.

Their parliaments are expected to ratify it, but nationalists on both
sides are seeking to derail implementation of the agreement.

Major countries, however, expressed their support for the accord, with
the foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, France and the
European Union in the room to watch the signing.

The contentious issue of whether the deaths of Armenians during the
final days of the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide is only hinted at
in the agreement, which calls for diplomatic ties for the first time
and the opening of the border within two months.

The agreement calls for a panel to discuss "the historical dimension"
of the killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during World War
I. The discussion is to include "an impartial scientific examination of
the historical records and archives to define existing problems and
formulate recommendations."

That clause is viewed as a concession to Turkey, because Armenia has
said that genocide was confirmed by international historians and
further discussion could lead to deadlock.

Turkey denies genocide, contending the toll is inflated and that those
killed were victims of civil war.

"There is no alternative to the establishment of the relations with
Turkey without any precondition," said Sarkisian. "It is the dictate of
the time."

Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French Foreign
Minister Bernard Kouchner were among the leaders who were on hand to
attend the signing, when it takes place.

Better ties between Turkey, a regional heavyweight, and poor,
landlocked Armenia are a priority for President Barack Obama. They
could help reduce tensions in the troubled Caucasus region and
facilitate its growing role as a corridor for energy supplies bound for
the West.

Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, thanked Turkey, which is
a candidate for EU membership.

"This is an important cooperation, no doubt, of Turkey to solve one
issue that pertains to a region which is in our neighborhood," Solana
told AP Television News after arriving in Zurich.

Switzerland, which mediated six weeks of talks between Turkey and
Armenia to reach the accord, is hosting the signing.

(CBS)Another source of dispute is Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in
Azerbaijan that is occupied by Armenian troops. Turks have close
cultural and linguistic ties with Azerbaijan, which is pressing Turkey
for help in recovering its land. Turkey shut its border with Armenia to
protest the Armenian invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1993.

Turkey wants Armenia to withdraw some troops from the enclave area to
show goodwill and speed the opening of their joint border, but Armenia
has yet to agree, said Omer Taspinar, Turkey project director at the
Brookings Institution in Washington.

"We may end up in a kind of awkward situation where there are
diplomatic relations, but the border is still closed," Taspinar said.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
agreement doesn’t directly involve the United States, noted that
President Barack Obama spoke to Armenian President Serge Sarkisian to
reaffirm his support for the normalization process.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was taking
steps with "goodwill" to restore ties with Armenia but that it was keen
on seeing Armenian troops withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh.

"We are trying to boost our relations with Armenia in a way that will
cause no hard feelings for Azerbaijan," Erdogan told reporters in
Turkey.

Erdogan said Turkey’s relations with Armenia after the agreement is
signed Saturday will run parallel to the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

(AP/Tigran Tadevosyan, Photolure)Necati Cetinkaya, a deputy chairman of
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, defended the deal,
saying "sincere steps that are being taken will benefit Turkey." He
said Turkey is aiming to form friendly ties with all its neighbors and
could benefit from trade with Armenia.

(Left: Demonstrators holding placards reading "No concessions to Turks"
rally in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009. About
10,000 protesters rallied against the planned signing of a deal to
normalize ties with neighboring Turkey.)

But Yilmaz Ates of the main opposition Republican People’s Party said
Turkey should avoid any concessions.

"If Armenia wants to repair relations … then it should end occupation
of Nagorno-Karabakh, that’s it," Ates said Saturday.

About 10,000 protesters rallied Friday in Armenia’s capital to oppose
the signing, and a tour of Armenian communities by Sarkisian sparked
protests in Lebanon and France, with demonstrators in Paris shouting
"Traitor!"

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