TURKEY ATTEMPTS TO BREATHE LIFE INTO ARMENIA RECONCILIATION PROCESS
Today’s Zaman
April 8 2010
Turkey
Turkey and Armenia signed protocols on the normalization of their
relations in October, but it is not clear when they will go into
force. Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu
discussed ways to overcome the deadlock in the reconciliation process
in Yerevan.
A senior Turkish diplomat arrived in Yerevan yesterday to deliver a
letter from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Armenian President
Serzh Sarksyan as a process of rapprochement aimed to restore relations
between the two estranged neighbors has come to a stalemate.
Erdogan, speaking to journalists during a visit to France, said Foreign
Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu visited Armenia as his
special envoy. "We have sent Mr. Sinirlioglu there. We have sent my
letter with him," Erdogan said, without elaborating on the contents
of the letter. Sources told Today’s Zaman that the letter contained
a message that an agreement would better serve the interests of the
two countries, especially when compared to the cost of a failure to
make peace.
Erdogan is expected to meet with Sarksyan on the sidelines of a
nuclear summit in Washington next week. In Paris he was cautious,
saying that whether the meeting will take place or not depends on
the response to his letter. Erdogan will attend the summit on April
12-13, along with the leaders of 46 other countries. US President
Barack Obama, a staunch supporter of Turkish-Armenian efforts to
normalize their relations, will have bilateral talks with Sarksyan
but no meeting is currently scheduled with Erdogan, the White House
has announced. Turkish officials said meetings with Obama or other
world leaders could be scheduled in the coming days if necessary.
Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols on normalizing their ties
in October but the ratification of the documents in both national
parliaments — necessary for them to go into effect — has been
stalled as both sides accuse each other of modifying the protocols.
Sinirlioglu discussed measures that could be taken to overcome the
deadlock in Yerevan, according to Turkish sources. The private NTV
television, meanwhile, reported that the Armenian parliament will
soon begin discussing the protocols. The parliamentary debate on
the protocols will increase the pressure on Turkey to do the same,
NTV said.
Sinirlioglu’s visit to Yerevan also follows tensions between Turkey
and the United States over a congressional committee vote on March
4 to pass a resolution acknowledging Armenian claims of genocide at
the hands of the late Ottoman Empire. Ankara is now waiting to see
if Obama will use the word "genocide" in an annual message due to
be released on April 24, which Armenians claim mark the beginning of
the genocide campaign in Anatolia a century ago.
Sinirlioglu was to tell the Armenian leadership that the diaspora’s
efforts to win international recognition for genocide claims had
damaged the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process, diplomatic
sources speaking to Today’s Zaman said. The senior diplomat’s visit
underlines that Turkey is still committed to the reconciliation
process, disregarding the obstacles.
When reminded of the lack of progress in Armenia’s Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute with Azerbaijan, the same sources said Sinirlioglu was not
in Yerevan to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, but that this does
not mean it will not come up in the talks. Turkey, a close ally of
Azerbaijan, closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in protest of
Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent territory.
The dispute is not formally linked with the Turkish-Armenian
reconciliation process but Turkish leaders have repeatedly assured
Azerbaijan that the border with Armenia will not be opened unless
the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute is resolved.
Response to the EU Meanwhile, Ankara criticized the European Union,
which has linked Turkish-Armenian relations with Ankara’s bid
to join the 27-nation bloc. In a statement on Wednesday, Foreign
Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin said Turkey was committed to the
normalization of its ties with Armenia as part of its vision for
regional peace and stability.
"Turkey does not need to be reminded of this mission that it has
[willingly] undertaken," he said.
"Good relations with neighbors are very important in the framework of
any country’s entry to the European Union," EU Enlargement Commissioner
Stefan Fule was quoted as saying by Armenian media on Tuesday during
a visit to Yerevan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress