TURKEY’S PRECONDITIONS ‘HELP’ GENOCIDE RECOGNITION, SAYS SARKISIAN
Asbarez
rkeys-preconditions-help-genocide-recognition-says -sarkisian/
Mar 23rd, 2010
DAMASCUS (RFE/RL)-Turkey’s reluctance to unconditionally normalize
relations with Armenia is only facilitating a broader international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Armenian President Serzh
Sarkisian suggested in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday.
Sarkisian spoke to the Syrian daily "Al Watan" during an official visit
to Syria that began on Monday. He was asked, in particular, to comment
on a resolution recognizing the 1915 genocide of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks that was adopted by a U.S. congressional committee on March 4.
"One thing is obvious to me," he replied. "The longer the process of
normalizing our relations [with Turkey] lasts, the larger the number
of states adopting such resolutions may become."
It was a clear reference to Ankara’s failure to ratify the
Turkish-Armenian normalization protocols signed in October. Turkish
leaders link the ratification with a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict that would satisfy Azerbaijan. They also say that the
genocide resolutions adopted by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs
Committee as well as Sweden’s parliament this month have further
complicated Turkish-Armenian reconciliation.
By contrast, Yerevan has welcomed both resolutions. "I don’t think
it’s right to attempt to link that [normalization] process with the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide by other countries," Sarkisian
told "Al Watan."
Sarkisian, who held talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad
in Damascus, is scheduled to visit the northeastern city of Deir
ez-Zor on Wednesday. The eponymous desert surrounding it was the
final destination point of hundreds of thousands of Ottoman Armenians
forced out of their homes in 1915-1918. The Armenian community in
Syria built there a memorial complex dedicated to them in 1990.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Sarkisian on Monday, Assad
offered Syria’s help in establishing cordial relations between Armenia
and Turkey for the sake of regional security and stability. "Syria
is ready to play a role… for the establishment of Turkish-Armenian
relations that can ensure normal stability and security in the region,"
he said, according to AFP news agency.
"I think… officials in Armenia have given us their full confidence,
which is why we are starting immediate steps, especially since
President Sarkissian encouraged us" to do so, he said. Assad also
praised Yerevan’s decision to normalize its relations with Turkey
despite "many difficulties."