ACNIS LOOKS AT THE PROSPECTS FOR ARMENIAN-TURKISH NORMALIZATION

armradio.am
15.04.2010 15:15

At the threshold of the Armenian Genocide’s 95th anniversary, the
Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS) today
convened a roundtable discussion regarding the prospects for the
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations against the backdrop
of the most recent developments.

ACNIS Director Richard Giragosian noted that following the
recent meeting in Washington between Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, there are
renewed expectations of hope that the process of Turkish-Armenian
"normalization" is back on track.

"While the meeting represented the "last chance" for Turkey to meet
expectations, new obstacles are coming, including the April 24th
anniversary of the Armenian genocide, which affirms that the real test
for this latest round of Turkish-Armenian diplomacy is only beginning,"
Giragosian said.

ACNIS Senior Analyst Manvel Sargsian presented his analysis concerning
the general context of the "Washington" phase of the Armenian-Turkish
talks. He maintained that Turkey continues to act irrationally and to
posit preconditions upon Armenia, but, at the same time, its efforts
toward linking the Karabagh issue to this process are not comprehended
by the United States.

"Turkey has to reconcile with the fact that, since its obstinacy is
to its own detriment, the Western countries, and particularly the
Unites States, in the first place, have intensified the efforts to
recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915, and are using this issue as
an additional leverage to put pressure on Turkey," Sargsian remarked.

"Even Azerbaijan has come to understand that, with its absurd demands,
it is paralyzing the political policy of its ‘big brother.’" Sargsian
concluded that Turkey is now standing before the imperative of
reviewing its stand with respect to normalizing relations with Armenia.