EDWARD NALBANDIAN: BLACKMAIL IS NOT THE WAY TO BE USED IN CIVILIZED WORLD

Noyan Tapan
March 18, 2010

YEREVAN, MARCH 18, NOYAN TAPAN. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s
statements with threats on deporting Armenians from Turkey and other
statements of the kind are inadmissible: they damage the normalization
of Armenia-Turkey relations. As RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
declared at a March 18 press conference, with such statements Turkey
shows that it is not absolutely ready to move forward.

The RA Foreign Minister noted that even in Turkey many do not
understand how such a statement could be made. According to E.

Nalbandian, it is not the first time such statements are made: such
statements were also made before the Armenian Genocide of 1915, as
well as before massacres of Armenians in a number of populated areas
of Azerbaijan in the 1980-s.

"We hope that more realistic approach will prevail in Turkey, they will
listen to international community’s opinion. They should move forward
without preconditions, without blackmail, without threats, without
provocations and fulfill the agreements reached by the two sides and
not threaten Armenia, other countries. Blackmail is not the way to
be used in the civilized world," the RA Foreign Minister declared.

Miroslav Lajcak, the Foreign Minister of Slovakia – EU member,
in his turn, said that the European Union welcomes the signing of
the Armenian-Turkish protocols. "We would like to see ratification
by the parliaments without linking them with other issues, without
preconditions," he said.

In response to the question of how EU treats Armenia’s blockade by
Turkey the Slovak Foreign Minister said that Turkey is a candidate
for membership to EU and its progress in that process depends on how
it will fulfill its commitments.

According to M. Lajcak, in the issue of Nagorno Karabakh settlement
EU supports the negotiations process proceeding within the framework
of the OSCE Minsk Group, on the basis of Madrid proposals.