Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email. anca@anca.org
Internet

PRESS RELEASE

October 13, 2009
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

TURKEY BACKTRACKS AGAIN

— Restates Preconditions for Lifting of Armenia Blockade

WASHINGTON, DC – Less than 24 hours after the signing of the
controversial Turkey-Armenia Protocols, Turkey’s top leaders
outlined their preconditions to the opening of the Turkey-Armenia
border, once again connecting the resolution of the Karabagh
conflict to Ankara’s willingness to lift its illegal blockade of
Armenia, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA).

"Once again, Turkey’s leaders have made it abundantly clear, most
recently in their public pledge to keep their blockade in place
until Azerbaijan agrees to its lifting, that the Protocols
represent simply another vehicle for them to impose pressure on
Yerevan and secure concessions from the Armenian people," stated
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "The Obama Administration,
rather than continuing to lean on Armenia to accept agreements that
threaten her security and cast doubt on the Armenian Genocide,
should call out Turkey for its cynical and transparent manipulaton
of the Protocols process to advance its anti-Armenian policies."

According to the Wall Street Journal and hundreds of similar
reports, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told members
of his ruling Justice and Development Party on Sunday, "As long as
Armenia has not withdrawn from Azerbaijani territory that it is
occupying, Turkey cannot have a positive attitude on this subject
[border opening]."

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported, today, that
Prime Minister Erdogan assured Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
that "further progress in the Karabakh peace process will be a
determining factor in the consideration by the Turkish parliament
of the Turkish-Armenian agreements." RFE/RL also reports that a
Turkish Embassy press statement was even more explicit. "As our
country’s Prime Minister repeatedly stated in his earlier
statements, the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border will be
impossible as long as the occupied Azerbaijani territories are not
liberated," read the Turkish Embassy statement. "The opening of
the border is quite a lengthy process… This process must run
parallel to the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
and liberating the occupied Azerbaijani territories."

The ANCA joined with Armenians around the world in opposing the
Turkey-Armenia Protocols, citing, among other reservations,
Turkey’s efforts to use the document to tilt the Nagorno Karabagh
negotiations in favor of Azerbaijan, as well as its use of the
Protocols to establish a "historical commission" which would
question the historical truth of the Armenian Genocide.

Upon the signing of the document, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian
commented, "President Obama, rather than honoring his pledge to
recognize the Armenian Genocide, went in exactly the opposite
direction, applying the full force of our nation’s diplomacy to
twist the arm of a landlocked and blockaded Armenia – a nation
still struggling with the brutal legacy of its near-destruction –
into accepting a dangerous set of protocols that call into question
this very crime against humanity."

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian is set to travel to Turkey on
October 14th to attend a soccer match between the two countries.
The agenda will reportedly include discussion of the protocols
ratification process.

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For more information, read:

Turkey Again Links Armenia Moves With Karabakh | 10/12/09
icle/1849079.html

Turkey Reassures Azerbaijan Over Armenian Border | 10/13/09
850769.html

Hurdles to Turkey-Armenia Pact | 10/12/09
209778731.html

ANCA Statement on the signing of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols
_releases.php?prid=1762

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress