TURKISH MP: ARMENIA STAGES DIRTY CAMPAIGN TO GIVE OFFICIAL STATUS TO ITS CLAIMS AGAINST TURKEY

Today
620.html
Feb 15 2010
Azerbaijan

Day.Az interview with Secretary of the Turkey’s Grand National Assembly
(parliament), MP from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK
Party) Fatih Metin.

The reservations the Armenian Constitutional Court made to the
Armenia-Turkey protocols caused a crisis in the normalization process
between the two countries. How all this reached this point?

>From its first days in power, the AKP set a goal to improve relations
with its neighbors in the region in an effort to create a zone of
peace and cooperation and therefore wanted to normalize relations
with Armenia to help it to come out of isoation. This process started
not as a result of external pressure, but because it was an internal
desire. We wanted the problem to be resolved not by disputes and wars,
but treaties and agreements. The Zurich protocols were signed as part
of this policy.

The signing of the protocols posed some problems. The Armenian Diaspora
and opposition actively opposed this rapprochement. They voiced a need
for adding some items to the protocols which were actually directed
against Turkey. Serzh Sargsyan was forced to succumb to this pressure
by Armenia and its diaspora. To help Sargsyan to get out of the hard
situation, Constitutional Court adopted these protocols with a unique
commentary dividing the process into stages and thus changing essence
of the document contrary to Turkey’s interests. They thought that
Turkey would take their claims unquestioningly. But Turkey has its own
dignity and its own political objectives. Ankara could not agree with
such hypocrisy and so warned Armenia and the countries of non-mediators
of inadmissibility of changes in an already signed document.

You said that the protocols were possible thanks to Turkey’s desire.

But some Turkish MPs, including those who represent the ruling party,
are convinced that Turkey did so as a result of pressure from the U.S.

and the EU …

Of course, the EU and U.S. interests were involved this regard and
they informed Turkey about their desires. But nobody can force Turkey
to accept what it does not want to do. Turkey is a country with its
own weight in the world. It has serious levers of influence on ongoing
processes in the Middle East. Neither the U.S. nor the EU would have
dared to force Turkey to make concessions to Armenia. Turkey took
into account its interests and rules of the game in the world in
this process.

Armenia claims that rapprochement with Turkey does not allegedly
imply a solution to the Karabakh conflict …

President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Turkey have
repeatedly expressed our country’s position on this issue, so there is
no need to repeat it. If you remember, they stated that they inform
the Azerbaijani leadership about all details of the Armenian-Turkish
talks. Turkey wanted to declare beginning of the process by these
protocols.

Turkey has problems with Armenia not only on the Karabakh, but also
on other issues. You know that Armenia refuses to recognize Gyumri and
Kars treaties that determine the border between Armenia and Turkey, as
well as the status of Nakhchivan. It puts official claims to Turkey’s
territory. Armenia stages a dirty campaign to give legal status to its
claims against Turkey. As a result, many world media outlets know the
Mount Agri as Ararat. Armenians have always claimed that Noah’s Ark
is on Mount Ararat, and is a "sacred place" taken away from them by
Turks. Russia’s geographic sources have long shown the Mount Agrı
within Armenia’s borders. Armenia shows Anatolia as "Western Armenia".

Turkey does not forget about these facts. Turkey decided to close
the border with Armenia because of the occupation of Karabakh and
surrounding areas. The Turkish Government has always stressed that the
reasons that caused the closure have not yet been eliminated. Given all
these, opening the border with Armenia is a step contrary to Turkey’s
interests and disrespect of our country to its decisions. The Turkish
people will never forgive this to government.

The U.S. and the EU leadership, not knowing about Turkey’s refusal
to adopt the Armenian Constitutional Court decision, again called on
Ankara to ratify the protocols …

Frankly, it is impossible to explained these calls by U.S. and EU by
any logic. All attribute this to the regional energy projects. It is
alleged that the tension in Armenian-Turkish relations is an obstacle
to regional peace processes and energy security. It arises quite an
interesting question- Is ignoring interests of Azerbaijan, which is a
significant regional energy power, not an obstacle to energy security?!

It is believed that the U.S. and EU are trying to achieve
neutralization of Armenia in case of military intervention in Iran.

Armenia has very good relations with Iran and today Armenia lives
with the help of Iran. So, I do not believe that Armenia will
spoil relations with Iran for the sake of something. Even after the
normalization of relations with Turkey Armenia will not trust us as it
trusts Iran. In addition, Russia has its own this interests in this
process. In the most appropriate time Armenia will express position
of neither Americans or Europeans, but that of Russians.

The upcoming February 26 will mark 18 years since the Khojaly
genocide. Is the Turkish parliament going to recognize Khojaly massacre
as genocide?

I hesitate to say whether this matter will be brought up for
discussions in the Turkish Parliament this year or not. Actually
unprecedented vandalism and a crime against humanity occurred in
Khojaly. The perpetrators of Khojaly events have no right to talk
about "genocide of the Turks against the Armenians. Unfortunately,
our neighbor try to design of brazen lies as truth for centuries.