TURKEY AND ARMENIA AT ODDS OVER PROTOCOLS
By Delphine Strauss in Ankara and Isabel Gorst in Moscow

FT
January 19 2010 23:23

Turkish and Armenian efforts to overcome a century of hostility
hit fresh obstacles this week, as Ankara protested against a ruling
by Armenia’s constitutional court on their bilateral agreement to
normalise relations.

Protocols signed last October, after mediation by Hillary Clinton,
US secretary of state, set a framework to restore diplomatic ties and
open the shared border, while mandating a commission of historians
to deal with the most difficult issue: the Ottoman-era massacres of
ethnic Armenians that Yerevan says constituted genocide.

EDITOR’S CHOICE Brussels blog: Fears grow over Sarkozy move to
downgrade Turkey’s EU bid – Oct-15Best behaviour urged in diplomatic
match – Oct-13Armenia and Turkey sign peace deal – Oct-11International
pressure to ratify the agreement, which would ease Armenia’s economic
isolation and remove a big irritant in US-Turkish relations, will
increase in the run-up to April 24th, when Armenians around the world
commemorate the bloodshed.

Armenia’s constitutional court issued a ruling last week clearing
the path for parliamentary ratification. But a statement issued by
Turkey’s foreign ministry late on Monday said the court’s reasoning
was unacceptable, containing "preconditions and restrictive provisions"
that undermined the protocols’ "fundamental objective".

Ankara is objecting, although the judgement does not appear to
require any change to the protocols, because the court has referred
to an article of the Armenian constitution that treats genocide,
which Turkey denies, as a matter of historical fact.

Armenian lobbyists opposed to the protocols claim the court’s ruling
provides "even more opportunities" for their struggle for genocide
recognition. They are likely to redouble calls for US president
Barack Obama to recognise the killings as genocide, as he promised
to do before his election.

Ankara, meanwhile, may welcome an opportunity to spread the blame
for delays in ratification. Turkey has made it clear it will not put
the protocols to a vote in parliament without a resolution of the
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, its ally and gas supplier,
over the Armenian-occupied enclave of Nagorno-Karabagh.

Turkey’s statement called for Yerevan to show the "same allegiance"
as itself to international commitments, but did not threaten any
specific action. "I think both sides are looking for excuses," said
Semih Idiz, columnist at Milliyet newspaper.

There has been no breakthrough yet in negotiations between Armenia
and Azerbaijan, although a delegation from the Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in Europe will visit both countries this
week for talks aimed at brokering a face to face meeting between
their presidents.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish prime minister, urged both Moscow and
Washington on recent visits to help hasten a deal on Nagorno-Karabagh,
but both the US and Russia say that dispute should not be linked to
the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.

Turkey’s overtures to Armenia have infuriated Baku, complicating
negotiations over gas transit that affect plans for the Nabucco
pipeline to carry Caspian gas to Europe. Russia’s Gazprom said this
week it would import as much gas as Azerbaijan could offer, signalling
it would compete with Nabucco investors for future supplies.

Ali Yurttagul, an advisor to the Greens in the European Parliament,
argued Turkey must press ahead with ratification for its "zero
problem" foreign policy to remain credible, as well as to increase
its influence in the Caucasus and end tensions affecting its own
ethnic Armenian citizens.