SERZH SARGSYAN: "TURKEY HAS NO MORAL RIGHT TO BLAME US ABOUT ANYTHING OR TO IMPOSE ANY CONDITIONS."
EuroNews
t/2010/03/19/serzh-sargsyan-turkey-has-no-moral-ri ght-to-blame-us-about-anything-or-to-/
March 19 2010
France
Serzh Sargsyan is President of Armenia, a country with a turbulent
history, like a fair number of states which for a time were a part
of the old USSR. Early in March on an official visit to Paris, the
president spoke with Euronews about the Armenian genocide, relations
between his country and Turkey, and on the frozen conflict of Nagorno
Karabakh. Armenia is gripped in the geopolitical vice of the South
Caucasus region, where Europe meets Asia.
Its border with Turkey has been blocked since the Nagorno Karabakh
war. The consequences of this for all involved are serious, including
for Armenia’s population of three million and the seven million
Armenian diaspora.
Laura Davidescu, Euronews: President Sargsyan, with 23 votes in favour
of the resolution and 22 against, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the
United States’ House of Representatives has decided to declare that the
1915 massacre of over one million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks was
genocide. Why do you think the committee has voted the resolution now?
President Serzh Sargsyan: Discussions on the recognition of the
Armenian genocide are not new in the political life of the United
States of America.
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.
Forty-two states in the US have recognized the events as genocide,
so the resolution on the 4th of March is neither a surprise nor a
new thing for us.
Euronews: Do you think of any particular reason for them voting it now,
in this particular context of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation?
Sargsyan: 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?
Euronews: If Armenia’s major problems now are unemployment, economic
isolation and long- running disputes with Turkey and Azerbaijan,
can these problems be more easily solved now?
Sargsyan: 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.
Euronews: I would go back to the recognition of the Armenian genocide:
If this issue is of paramount concern for Armenians both at home
and in the Diaspora, could you please tell us why the Yerevan State
University awarded an honorary degree to the Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad in 2007? The Iranian president denies the Holocaust.
Sargsyan: You know, we cannot oblige our neighbours 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 neighbours for centuries and they are very
important to us.
Euronews: Would you call the Yerevan state university’s decision
Armenian "realpolitik"?
Sargsyan: 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.
Euronews: You are quoted as having said in London, in February, that
Nagorno Karabakh was never a part of independent Azerbaijan. Well,
the international community seems to have another opinion, another
assessment.
Sargsyan: The international community does not have a different
vision. History is well-known… Nagorno Karabakh was not a
part of independent Azerbaijan. It was the Caucasus Bureau of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union which attached Nagorno Karabakh
to Azerbaijan.
Why did the international community acclaim the collapse of the
Soviet Union and not consider Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan part and parcel of the Soviet Union? — still saying
Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaidjan? It is not logical, is it?
Euronews: What kind of compromises are you willing to make in order
to achieve a peaceful resolution of this conflict?
Sargsyan: One cannot eliminate the consequences of this conflict
without addressing its causes. And when speaking about the causes… we
talk about recognising the people of Nagorno Karabakh’s right of self
determination… the recognition of this right and its implementation.
The other problems will be solved rapidly after that.
The Armenian parts of this conflict, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh,
are profoundly interested in a swift resolution of this conflict. But
a sustainable resolution that would allow for peace and security in
the region, as opposed to giving Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh, which
would spell the end of its existence.
Euronews: Azerbaijan states very clearly that it will never ever accept
Nagorno Karabakh as an independent entity. They will never let it go.
Sargsyan: What does the international community propose to us? To
solve this conflict on the basis of three principles of international
law: firstly, self-determination; secondly, territorial integrity;
and thirdly, the non-use of force. I propose, through you, the media,
to appeal to Azerbaijan to sign an agreement not to use force. This
would instill trust in the Armenian people of Karabakh and Armenia. And
under these conditions of trust we would begin the negotiations for a
settlement. We Armenians know very well what Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity means. We’ve talked about it openly several times. The
Azerbaijanis… can they say what the right of self-determination
means for the people of Nagorno Karabakh?
When we issue joint declarations about the right of self-determination,
Azerbaijan is not talking about the Armenian people’s right to
self-determination but of the right of the main player in the
conflict… the people of Nagorno Karabakh.