VERDICT OF RA CONSTITUTIONAL COURT NON-BINDING FOR TURKEY
Mikhail Balayan

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.01.2010 GMT+04:00

As expected, after a 10-day New Year holiday the first working week
was politically eventful. The main event was the assembly of the
Constitutional Court of Armenia, which was to issue a verdict on the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols. More acute was Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov’s unexpected visit to Yerevan.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Monday revealed preliminary results of the elections
into the Armenian National Assembly, held in the Constituency number
10 for the seat that became vacant after Member of the RA National
Assembly Khachatur Sukiasyan laid down his mandate. These elections
were of public interest for the reason that in this district,
along with candidates Ara Simonyan from the party "National Unity"
and Davit Hakobyan, Leader of the Marxist Party of Armenia, ran for
the parliament also Editor-in-Chief of the opposition newspaper
"Haykakan Zhamanak" Nikol Pashinyan, presently detained with the
accusation of organizing mass disturbances on March 1, 2008. According
to preliminary data provided by the RA Central Election Committee,
National Unity Member Ara Simonyan won the pre-term parliamentary
elections, gaining 7622 votes against Pashinyan’s 5023.

Later on Monday a protest action was held in Shahumyan Square in
Yerevan against ratification of the Turkish-Armenian Protocols. The
rally was organized by the ARF Dashnaktsutyun. Other political forces,
particularly "Heritage", "Ramkavar Azatakan" and "New Times" joined
the protesters. The rally attracted about 1000 participants, who
with burning torches headed for the Constitutional Court of Armenia,
where they handed to the representative of the RA Constitutional
Court a statement and a legally sound conclusion, which stated that
the signed Armenian-Turkish Protocols are a threat to the national
security of Armenia.

However, Member of the Republican Party of Armenia Karen Avagyan was
sceptical about the success of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun to affect the
decision of the Constitutional Court of Armenia through rallies and
processions. According to the MP, this protest action cannot affect the
conclusion of the Constitutional Court, as the fears that the party
has on the current process of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish
relations are not reflected in the text of the Protocols. "Based on
the abovementioned, I can conclude that the RA Constitutional Court
will render a positive decision on the Protocols," noted Avagyan. The
Party "Prosperous Armenia" also shares the MP’s standpoint.

On Tuesday the Constitutional Court of Armenia held a hearing on the
conformity of the Protocols with the RA Constitution. At the briefing,
Chairman of the RA Constitutional Court Gagik Harutyunyan announced
that the Constitutional Court had handed out to all its members
the statement and the legally sound conclusion received from the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun on the Armenian-Turkish Protocols, and all nine members
of the CC had acquainted themselves with the received documents. Long
debates and discussions expected by the political establishment and
the Armenian community did not occur in the Constitutional Court. The
Court found the Protocols on Normalization of Relations between
Armenia and Turkey conformable with the RA Constitution.

Till the end of the week almost all major political parties of
Armenia, political correspondents and analysts were busy voicing
their assessment of the current events and developments.

ARF Dashnaktsutyun expressed its partial satisfaction with the
decision of the RA Constitutional Court, which had taken into account
the legal conclusion earlier presented by the party. Nevertheless,
Dashnaktsutyun announced that from then on the party was determined
to move the struggle against ratification of the Protocols into the
Parliament. "National Assembly of Armenia can ratify the Protocols
only after making reservations therein," said Armen Rustamyan,
Representative of the ARFD Supreme Body. He added that his party was
determined to take the initiative on proposing amendments to the
"Law on the National Assembly of RA" on the very first day of the
parliamentary session. Rustamyan further noted that his party had
collected about 70,000 signatures, which were to be provided to the
MPs for examination. "We still have time to amend the laws to enable
Parliament to introduce reservations to the documents. Otherwise,
the President of Armenia himself, based on the legal decision of
the RA Constitutional Court, can make such reservations and attach
them to the Protocols during the ratification process," Rustamyan
said. "If not, the ARFD itself can take the initiative to declare the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols void, which in the political sense means
a shift of power," declared Rustamyan.

RA Constitutional Court’s decision received a positive assessment
from Secretary of the parliamentary faction of the Republican Party
of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov. In his opinion, decision of the RA
Constitutional Court highlights three main points: obligations imposed
by the Protocols apply only to Armenia and Turkey, and no other third
country; the mentioned documents do not envisage the settlement of any
disputed issues between the two countries, since for that purpose the
parties must conclude new agreements. "Finally, the Protocols cannot
be interpreted as contradicting to the Armenian Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence of Armenia," Sharmazanov said. Besides,
he reiterated the position of the Republican Party, which believes
that the Armenian-Turkish Protocols contain no preconditions, and
Armenia has not unilaterally taken on any commitments.

"It is in the national interests of Armenia to ratify the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols before the Turkish parliament ratifies
them," declared Stepan Grigoryan, Head of the Analytical Center on
Globalization and Regional Cooperation. In his opinion, delay of
ratification of the Protocols by the Armenian Parliament currently
works to the detriment of the interests of Armenia. "The forces opposed
to Armenian-Turkish rapprochement link them to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict in order to gain time for the implementation of their
plans," underlined the analyst. Welcoming the conclusion of the RA
Constitutional Court, Grigoryan noted that the verdict outlined the
legal boundaries, which the Armenian authorities cannot cross in
relations with Turkey. The expert also added that after ratification
of the Protocols and opening of the Armenian-Turkish border, the role
of Armenia will substantially increase in the region.

According to "Heritage" parliamentary group member Stepan Safaryan,
the haste of RA Constitutional Court to adopt a positive decision
on the Armenian-Turkish Protocols testifies the existence of
international pressure upon Armenia. "Before the court’s decision,
Armenian authorities claimed they’d ratify the Protocols only after
Turkey. However, this decision shows that the authorities have changed
their attitude," Safaryan said at a news conference in Yerevan.

Safaryan also noted the decision of Armenia’s Constitutional Court is
aimed at resolving home policy issues only, such as whether there are
preconditions in the protocols or not. "This verdict has no external
power and it poses no obligations on Turkey," the MP noted.

In the mid-week Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov paid a visit
to Armenia. Against the background of a lively internal debate about
the positive decision of the RA Constitutional Court, this event even
further increased the interest of the Armenian community. The Head of
Russian Foreign Ministry made a series of loud statements in Yerevan,
noting that in the issue of Karabakh conflict settlement Russia
shares the standpoint that in the elaboration of a peace agreement the
position of the Nagorno-Karabakh people should be taken into account.

Moreover, when asked about whether Russia’s interests in energy
cooperation with Turkey can be more important than the right of NKR
people to self-determination, Lavrov answered: "The answer is simple,
they cannot."

The Russian FM also declared that Russia is interested in normalization
of Armenian-Turkish relations, and Moscow’s position in this
issue remains unchanged: the earlier Armenian-Turkish relations
are normalized, the more benefits the entire region can derive. In
addition Minister Lavrov stated that Moscow sees no link between
RA-Turkey rapprochement and Karabakh conflict settlement. "Trying to
artificially link these two issues, in my opinion, is incorrect. We
believe that both of these processes should be supported, but it is
unreasonable to link them," declared Lavrov in Yerevan.

And the last important political event of the past week was the
surprise visit of OSCE Minsk Group U.S. Co-Chair Robert Bradtke
to Yerevan. Bradtke, U.S Co-Chair on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement, arrived in Armenia a few days earlier than the planned
visit of January 20. On January 16 he met with Foreign Minister of
Armenia Edward Nalbandian. Later on that day the American co-chair
was received by President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress