WHY IS THE ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT SILENT?
Hayk Aramyan

os15518.html
15:42:06 – 12/10/2009

The Armenian high-ranking officials do not comment on the signing
of the Armenian and Turkish protocols but only our foreign ministry
issued a short statement noting that the process "may be useful for
the Armenian and Turkish people if the documents are fulfilled as
arranged: without preconditions and in reasonable terms". The ceremony
of singing is described in the statement but the circumstance that it
was delayed for about 4 hours neither its reason is mentioned. While
the Armenian responsible figures in this connection keep silent, the
Turkish press is overwhelmed with information that Turkey tried to make
changes in the protocols in particular include the Karabakh issue as
a precondition. The Armenian side neither declines nor affirms this
fact and the Armenian journalists in Zurich have to learn information
from the journalists of other countries.

Anyway, after 4 hours, the protocols were signed without changes. In
other words, in the form they were presented to the Armenian society
on August 31. What happened? What were Edward Nalbandyan and Hillary
Clinton discussing? However, everyone had happy expressions on their
faces during the singing ceremony except Edward Nalbandyan. The
Armenian side explained this fact by minister’s tiresome. But
surprisingly, there was no sign of such tiresome on Hillary Clinton’s
face who according to reporters was engaged in almost "shuttle"
diplomacy in Zurich visiting Nalbandyan and Davutuglu by turn.

By the way, the latter was also happy though his traits are always
expressing happiness. All this created grounds for the Armenian and
Diaspora societies to think that though nothing is changed in the
protocols, but there is some secret arrangement that the Armenian
army has to withdraw from the 5 regions by the end of the year. In
turn, right after the singing, the Turkish prime minister and the
foreign minister rushed to assure Azerbaijan that their stance has
not changed that the border will not open until the Armenian army
is not withdrawn from "the occupied Azerbaijani lands including
Karabakh". The Azerbaijani foreign ministry expressed hope that the
spirit of brotherhood of the Azerbaijani and Turkish people will not
be shadowed and Turkey will maintain its word.

What happened in Zurich? What is the reason of the delay? If they try
to seize concessions from Armenia to Turkey is difficult to say. Maybe
all this was a spectacle for calming the Azerbaijan down, or to show
to Turkey that not everything may be so easy. But these protocols
were expedient most of all for Turkey which, we may say, becomes a
"legitimate country" because it starts a process of solving a number
of important problems.

Maybe one day the society will learn about it. But before, the
Zurich events showed that a seriously prepared political group
is needed for such political issues which must be ready for any
situation. Not the texts of the protocols decide everything but the
process of their fulfillment, the process of further negotiations,
the level of preparedness of the sides.

Is the Armenian current government ready for this?