DASHNAKS SLAM U.S. PRAISE OF ARMENIAN RULING ON TURKEY
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25.01.2010
Armenia — An Armenian Revolutionary Federation flag flying against
the backdrop of the Constitutional Court building in Yerevan on
January 12 2010.
The opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun)
denounced on Monday the U.S. State Department for welcoming an Armenian
Constitutional Court ruling on Turkey that has sparked a diplomatic
dispute between Yerevan and Ankara.
Dashnaktsutyun leaders claimed that by effectively siding with
Armenia in the row, the United States is pressurizing its leadership
to unconditionally implement the controversial Turkish-Armenian
agreements which their party considers a sellout to Turkey.
While upholding the constitutionality of the two "protocols,"
the Constitutional Court ruled on January 12 that they place no
obligations on Armenia with regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
and can not inhibit its pursuit of greater international recognition
of the Armenian genocide.
Dashnaktsutyun welcomed this interpretation of the U.S.-backed
protocols, saying that the Armenian parliament should ratify them
with corresponding "reservations." Its top representatives said in
particular that the court effectively invalidated a protocol clause
that commits Armenia to explicitly recognizing the existing border
with Turkey.
The Turkish government has likewise claimed that the ruling runs
counter to the letter and spirit of the deal and jeopardizes its
implementation by Turkey. Armenia’s leadership has brushed aside
these claims, accusing Ankara of seeking "artificial pretexts" for
delaying its parliamentary ratification.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon told RFE/RL
on Friday that Washington regards the judgment as a "positive step
forward in the ratification process of the normalization protocols"
that "does not appear to limit or qualify them in any way." Armenian
pro-government politicians and media were quick to welcome the U.S.
reaction as a crucial endorsement of Yerevan’s position in the
dispute. Dashnaktsutyun strongly disagree with that.
"It was a statement made a bit prematurely, and I don’t think that
it is only aimed at somehow benefiting Armenia," Artsvik Minasian,
a senior Dashnaktsutyun member, told RFE/RL, commenting on Gordon’s
remarks. "What is more, I think that was a form of pressure on
Armenia aimed at making sure that we don’t ratify the protocols with
reservations," he said.
Giro Manoyan, the party’s chief foreign policy spokesman, also accused
Washington of pressurizing Yerevan. "When a representative of a foreign
state tries to teach us some lessons I don’t think that is acceptable,"
he told RFE/RL.
According to Minasian, Dashnaktsutyun has drafted legal amendments that
would empower Armenia’s parliament to ratify international treaties
and agreements signed by the executive branch with conditions or
reservations. He said they will be presented this week to 13 other
mostly small opposition groups aligned in a Dashnaktsutyun-led
coalition staunchly opposed to the protocols.
Leaders of those parties met at the Dashnaktsutyun headquarters in
Yerevan over the weekend to discuss their further actions. One of
them, Armen Martirosian of the Zharangutyun party, was skeptical
about the Dashnaktsutyun bill. Martirosian predicted on Monday that
the parliament majority loyal to President Serzh Sarkisian will
unconditionally endorse the protocols should they be put to the vote.
A deputy chairman of Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia, which
has a clear majority in the National Assembly, confirmed that. "If
we add reservations to the protocols, the Turks will never ratify
them," Razmik Zohrabian told RFE/RL. "We should therefore avoid any
reservations."
Zohrabian also hailed the U.S. reaction to the Armenian court ruling,
saying that it shows just how "vulnerable and superficial" the Turkish
diplomacy can be.