ARMENIA NEEDS NEW APPROACH TO PROTOCOLS
Ara Khachatourian

Asbarez
Dec 9th, 2009

The tacit rebuke by foreign minister Eduard Nalbandian of the forceful
comments made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during
his visit to Washington signals official Yerevan’s ambivalence to the
political goings on around it and further reinforces the need for a
new approach to diplomacy by Armenia.

In remarks Wednesday, Nalbandian, once again reiterated his tired line
that there are no preconditions guiding the Armenia-Turkey relations
and cited President Obama’s similar statement as the reason why Turkey
may be out of line in continuously pressing for such prerequisites.

Reports after the Erdogan-Obama meeting indicate that the Turkish
Prime Minister has privately and publicly pressed his country’s
unequivocal insistence on a resolution to the Karabakh conflict before
the ratification of the protocols. Similarly, Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutolglu, while in Washington, also echoed the same sentiments.

Another report, attributed to the Hurriyet newspaper, asserts that
the US pledged to secure "withdrawal from occupied territories," by
April, with Obama promising to personally push the OSCE Minsk Group
to accelerate the peace process.

The Turkish and Azeri authorities have mounted a full-frontal
diplomatic and propaganda attack on Armenia, whose authorities’
reaction seems more like dodging bullets than asserting its position
on a singularly critical matter that has far reaching ramifications
beyond the technicalities of the ratification process.

It is quite obvious to all observers and laymen alike that in this
dubious process, Armenia has been forced to make concessions and take
steps that satisfy the Turkish, the US or Russian agendas. At every
such juncture, Armenian reaction has been to assert that they have
acted without outside pressures and in the interest of the Armenian
nation.

We have seen this process unfold in front of our eyes. The disastrous
"roadmap" announcement led to the protocol signing in Zurich, which
has led to unprecedented pressure on Armenia to resolve the Karabakh
conflict to the benefit of Azerbaijan. Yet, official Yerevan’s line
has not changed.

What has happened since then is that the effort to garner international
recognition for the Genocide has reverted to where it was 25 years ago,
with media, political circles and the Turkish authorities using the
same language of denial that was rampant in the late 70s and early
80s. At the same time, Azerbaijan has mounted a campaign to paint
Armenia as an aggressor.

Armenia needs a new approach. With continuing declarations
of preconditions and unabashed-and unpunished-military threats
abound, Armenia should stand firm and set its own preconditions:
recognition of the Genocide; a solution to the real refugee problem
that arose as a result of vicious Azeri pogroms of Armenians in
Sumgait, Kirovabad, Shahumian and Baku, not to mention the legal
ramifications of perpetrating those acts; and finally, the right
to self-determination of the Armenians of Karabakh as expressed
democratically through referenda.

Nalbandian’s reserved logic that preconditions create a vicious
cycle to which Armenia does not want to be a party has clearly
proven illogical in the face of the ground being gained by Turkey and
Azerbaijan in the international community. Armenia’s adversaries are
not preserving any moral high ground in this process.

The Armenian government must show its teeth or step aside before the
entire Armenian nation-its past, present and future-is compromised
due to its inept governance and skewed understanding of diplomacy.

Enough is enough!

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress