Agence France Presse
Jan 22 2010

Turkey expects ‘explanation" over Armenia court ruling

Ankara, Jan 22 2010

Turkey said Friday that it expected Armenia to offer an explanation on
a court ruling which Ankara says contradicts historic deals to
normalise ties and open the border between the two neighbours.

The Armenian constitutional court ruling "is against the letter and
spirit of the protocols," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told
reporters.

"Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian told me in a telephone
conversation that the ruling did not affect previously agreed points
in the protocols. But we expect a clearer picture, explanation over
this," he added.

Turkey and Armenia signed the protocols in October to establish
diplomatic ties and reopen their shared border, in a deal hailed as a
historic step towards ending decades of hostility stemming from World
War I-era massacres of Armenians under Ottoman Turkey.

But they have traded accusations over a January 12 ruling by the
Armenian court, which upheld the legality of the protocols but said
they "cannot be interpreted" to contradict Armenia’s 1990 declaration
of independence that refers to the "1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman
Turkey and Western Armenia."

Turkey rejects Armenian claims of genocide and says the number of
those killed during civil strife is inflated. It also objects to a
reference to "Western Armenia", seeing it as a territorial claim on
its eastern regions.

The Armenian ruling also underlined that the protocols did not concern
any third party, in contrast to Ankara’s claim that the reconciliation
process with Armenia is linked to Yerevan’s conflict with Azerbaijan
over the Nagorny Karabakh enclave.

"The aim of the protocols is to approve all its elements, including
the commissions, in their entirety," Davutoglu said.

He was referring to an article that calls for the establishment of an
independent commission to study the Armenian massacres under Ottoman
rule.

The minister added that he would hold telephone conversations with US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Swiss Foreign Minister
Micheline Calmy-Rey to convey Ankara’s concerns over the procees.

Davutoglu was speaking shortly after Nalbandian warned that historic
efforts to establish ties with Turkey may break down, blaming Ankara
for obstructing the process.

A Turkish diplomat, speaking on conditions of anonymity, termed
Nalbandian’s remarks an "unjust accusation" and underlined that Ankara
expected Yerevan to confirm that the framework of the protocols
remained unchanged.

"If the framework has changed, then we will not be talking about the
deals that we signed, but something else," the diplomat added.