ANCA JOINED WITH ARMENIANS AROUND THE WORLD IN OPPOSING THE TURKEY-ARMENIA PROTOCOLS
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
15.10.2009 14:19 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 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 manipulation 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withdrawn from Azerbaijani territory that it is occupying, Turkey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]."
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, w rection, 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."