Genocide resolution – Ankara’s chance to shake off Baku’s pressure on
the way to Protocols ratification

06.03.2010 16:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ US House Foreign Affairs Committee passage of
Genocide resolution is Ankara’s chance to shake off Baku’s pressure on
the way to Protocols ratification, according European Integration NGO
chairman Karen Bekaryan.

`Probability for Protocols ratification is dwindling, but the final
result of Armenia-Turkey rapprochement could be forecasted only in
case Ankara fails to ratify protocols before April 24,’ he told a news
conference in Yerevan.

The expert linked the slump in rapprochement process with Turkey’s
internal political situation, rather than the passage of H.Res. 252.

Commenting on recent statement by Turkish Foreign Minister on the
possibility to open borders with Armenia within 3 days, and closing
them, should Karabakh war break out, Karen Bekaryan stressed that
Ankara’s statements contain a threat of force and a message to
Azerbaijan.

Commenting on the reaction of US Administration on resolution passage,
the expert emphasized there was nothing new in Obama Administration’s
statements. `Compared with previous administration’s reaction, this
time, official Washington’s response was less harsh. The statements of
US Department of State leave US some space for further maneuvers,’
Bekaryan said.

On March 4, US House Foreign Affairs Committee’s passed a resolution
recognizing and commemorating the Armenian Genocide. The resolution
was passed by a vote of 23-22.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish
counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of
diplomatic talks held through Swiss mediation. On January 12, 2010,
the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia found the
protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.