allvoices
April 9 2010

Washington Meeting: Parliamentary view of Yerevan. By YerevanReporter

The representatives of parliamentary political forces of Armenia today
presented their expectations from the upcoming Washington meeting,
April 12-13, President Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Recep
Erdogan.

The head of the parliamentary faction of the opposition Heritage
party, Stepan Safarian said that the consent of the Armenian president
to meet with the head of the Turkish government did not come as a
surprise. "The Armenian authorities have demonstrated to the world
community its willingness to continue to wait for steps by Turkey, as
in Yerevan, as well as in Ankara, unfortunately, are not ready to make
a decision to withdraw from the process of normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations, in fact desired by external forces, he
said. Members expressed concern that the Turkish side will obviously
speculate upcoming Washington meeting, presenting it as a continuation
of the dialogue, while the ratification process of the
Armenian-Turkish protocols have no signs of life.

Leader of the parliamentary faction "Rule of Law" Eghineh Bisharyan
noticed that the Washington meeting is not due process of ratification
of the protocols. However, she expressed the opinion that the
Armenian-Turkish official contacts will contribute to Ankara’s
decision on the further course of normalization of bilateral
relations.

A member of the ARF faction of the opposition party Artsvik Minasyan
expressed concern that as a result of the Washington meeting will not
be able to fully protect the Armenian national interests and urged the
authorities to take steps to prevent the weakening position of Armenia
in the international arena. However, he noted with regret that the
political majority of Parliament rejected the initiative of the ARF to
give Parliament the function of making reservations to international
agreements in the process of their ratification, in particular, the
Armenian-Turkish protocols. According to the MP, this step of the
Armenian authorities was situational decision aimed at pleasing Turkey
and third countries. Minasyan expressed confidence that in the
American capital "will attempt to preserve the Armenian-Turkish
protocols on the agenda and some strengthening in the process of the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. According to him, Turkey has not ratified
the Protocol and shall make every effort to justify its position.

A member of the faction of "Prosperous Armenia" Naira Zohrabyan said
that throughout the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations official Yerevan has not violated the rules of the game and
keeps the continuity of the agreements reached. Against this
background, now a retaliatory move should take Ankara, facing an
impasse as a result of the nomination of preconditions, "she said.

The leader of the Republican Party of Armenia Galust Sahakian called a
positive step consent of the President Sargsyan will meet in the
American capital with the Turkish prime minister. He said the upcoming
meeting should not be regarded as a serious political or diplomatic
factors, since it gives a chance to Turkey to look interested in
continuing the process of ratification of the protocols. Sahakian said
he would closely monitor the "interesting meeting" Sargsyan-Erdogan,
expressing confidence that the Armenian side does not back down from
their stated positions. However, he stressed the importance of
meetings in Washington Presidents of Armenia and the United States in
the context of development of Armenian-American relations.

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