Turkey has no moral right to impose any conditions on Armenia

20.03.2010 11:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Discussions on the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide are not new in the political life of the United States of
America, Armenian President said.

`Several times at least in the past 10 years, the Foreign Affairs
Committee of the House of Representatives has tried to vote on the
resolution,’ Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Euronews.

`Forty-two states in the US have recognized the events as Genocide, so
the resolution vote on March 4 is neither a surprise nor a new thing
for us,’ he said.

Asked whether he thinks of any particular reason for date of voting on
the resolution in the context of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation,
President Sargsyan said, `We are currently in discussions with Turkey
on the issue of re-establishing our relations. This should be done
without any preconditions, and I think that Turkey has no moral right
to blame us about anything or to impose any conditions.
Re-establishing relations without preconditions means we are not under
any obligations to stay away from any of the possible topics. Let’s
say that, by some miracle, the Turkish Parliament ratifies the
protocols, the Armenian Parliament does the same, we re-establish our
relations and a third country, which is against us re-establishing our
relations, on purpose takes up the Genocide issue. Will the Turks,
therefore, use this as a pretext and break off relations?’

Responding to a question whether Armenia’s major problems –
unemployment, economic isolation and long- running disputes with
Turkey and Azerbaijan – can be more easily solved now, the Armenian
President stated, `Our difficulties with Turkey did not begin
yesterday. For 17 years, Turkey has kept the Armenian border under
blockade. Was there such a resolution 17 years ago? We fully
understand that Turkey is a big country – in terms of population,
territory and power… vastly bigger than Armenia. And if we lived apart
from each other we would [also] understand. But since Armenia and
Turkey are part of the international community, and the United States,
France and the European Union are too, then the international
community must assess the developments and situations as they unfold.’

As to the fact that Yerevan State University awarded an honorary
degree to the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who denies the
Armenian Genocide, President Sargsyan noted, `You know, we cannot
oblige our neighbors to think as we do. One should not narrow things
down to a single person. To bestow upon the leader of a country an
honorific reward signifies an expression of gratitude and recognition
towards the people of that country. The Iranians have been our
neighbors for centuries and they are very important to us. I would
consider it as a particular approach by the State University of
Yerevan towards a particular issue, an approach quite current in
Europe and in the democratically developed countries of the world.’