World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
February 12, 2010
Armenian President Visits U.K. to Rally Support for Peace Process with
Turkey, Azerbaijan
BYLINE: Lilit Gevorgyan
Yesterday Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan finalised his working
two-day visit to the United Kingdom where he met with Queen Elizabeth
II, Prince Charles and U.K. foreign secretary David Miliband. Miliband
welcomed Armenian’s efforts to normalise its long-strained relations
with neighbouring Turkey and also find a peaceful resolution with
Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Sargsyan summarised his
message to the U.K. government as well as the royal family in his
speech at the Royal Institute for International Affairs, Chatham
House. It included three main points: firstly, the United Kingdom
together with its European Union (EU) partners should urge Turkey to
ratify the October 2009 protocols set to open the Turkish-Armenian
border and establishing diplomatic relations without linking the
ratification to any third country issue, namely the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict of which Turkey is not part. Secondly,
Sargsyan reiterated his government’s unequivocal support for the right
of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian population to self-determination,
adding that the Azerbaijani government is nowhere near to tolerating
Armenian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh. Thirdly, Sargsyan urged the EU
and the United Kingdom to stop Azerbaijan’s rapid rearmament which has
seen a seven-fold rise since 2005, adding that if Azerbaijan is not
stopped it will launch a new war.
Significance:Sargsyan’s visit is an attempt by the Armenian government
to increase the EU and U.K. involvement in the South Caucasus peace
talks. It comes at a crucial time when Turkey is trying to back-pedal
on the commitments undertaken by October 2009 internationally mediated
peace protocols with Armenia by putting preconditions for the
ratification (seeTurkey – Armenia: 12 October 2009:). Turkey is
currently using the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a
precondition to opening its borders with Armenia, an approach that is
almost certain to abort the normalisation process and is contrary to
its commitment. The Turkish policy is causing frustration not only in
the United States and EU but also with the Armenian government. The
government effectively lost its credibility with the Armenian voters
by pursuing highly unpopular October protocols only to see them
derailed, while the West which has pushed Armenia to make concessions,
has left it alone. Perhaps this frustration has prompted Sargsyan to
voice in an unusually firm tone his country’s support for
Nagorno-Karabakh’s self-determination and also warn EU and the United
Kingdom of the imminence of another war if they ignore Azerbaijan’s
clear signs of preparing for a new military campaign.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress