TENSE PHONE CALL BETWEEN NALBANDIAN AND DAVUTOGLU

Asbarez
on Jan 20th, 2010

Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian and Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu shake hands after signing the Turkish-Armenian
Protocols on Oct. 10, 2009

YEREVAN-The foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey had what appeared
to be a tense phone conversation Wednesday that further dimmed
prospects for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations,
reported Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The conversation, initiated by Armenia’s Foreign Minister Eduard
Nalbandian, was in response to Tuesday’s Turkish Foreign Ministry
statement, which claimed that last week’s Constitutional Court ruling
on the Armenia-Turkey protocols placed "preconditions and restrictive
provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols."

Nalbandian was quick to respond Tuesday, pledging a phone call to
his counterpart to express "bewilderment" of the Turkish position,
since from the onset of the normalization process, Turkey has imposed
preconditions saying that the process would not move forward without
a Karabakh peace deal that favors Azerbaijan.

According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Nalbandian told Davutoglu
that such statements are "creating the impression of a search for
artificial pretexts" for Turkey’s refusal to establish diplomatic
relations and open its border with Armenia, reported RFE/RL.

A ministry statement said he urged the Turks to stick to "the
letter and spirit of the protocols" and "move forward fast." It
said Nalbandian insisted that the Constitutional Court ruling only
testifies to the Armenian side’s desire to have them implemented
"without undue delays."

Davutoglu stood by this claim during the phone call with his Armenian
counterpart. A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman was reported to
say that Davutoglu also claimed that the ratification process is at
a far more advanced stage in Turkey than in Armenia, reported RFE/RL.

On January 12, Armenia’s high Court ruled that the agreements were
in line with the country’s Constitution. The Court also said that
the protocols could not have any bearing with the ongoing Karabakh
peace process nor should they impede the international recognition of
the Armenian Genocide. To reinforce the latter point, the court cited
Article 11 of Armenia’s 1990 Declaration of Independence which states:
"The Republic of Armenia stands in support of the task of achieving
international recognition of the 1915 Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and
Western Armenia."

Despite Turkey’s claims to the contrary, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
statement aims to further Ankara’s preconditions on the protocols
and find an escape route from its commitments in the international
community, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Political Affairs Director
Giro Manoyan told a press conference in Yerevan Wednesday.

"The decision of the Armenian Constitutional Court and the
subsequent statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry will lead to new
developments," said Manoyan who did not rule out the possibility of
phone calls to Armenia’s leadership by the Secretary of State or the
Vice-President to "secure assurances."

He also presumed that Turkey may take action toward ratification of
the Protocols in March-April 2010. "If Turkey drags out the process,
Armenia will have to say it quits negotiations."

Manoyan asserted that the Constitutional Court could have used the
same provisions to rule the protocols unconstitutional, adding that
the points outlined by the Court could serve as a basis for the
parliament to not ratify the documents.

The ARF leader said that the party’s parliamentary faction was prepared
to introduce legislation, which would require the inclusion of the
Court’s rationale in the wording of the protocols.