ARMENIA SUSPENDS RATIFICATION PROCESS, RETAINS HER SIGNATURE UNDER THE PROTOCOLS

Armradio.am
23.04.2010 10:27

President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan addressed the
people Thursday to inform about the decision on the process of
normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey

Fellow Armenians; A year has passed since the Armenian-Turkish-Swiss
joint statement on steps to normalize the relations between Armenia and
Turkey. During this period, the two Protocols aimed at normalization
of the relations have been publicized, discussed in the public domain,
and signed. The documents have for quite a lengthy time now been in the
parliaments of Armenia and Turkey, awaiting ratification. Armenia has
all along demonstrated her commitment to the process of normalization
of relations, to the point of including the Protocols in the agenda
of the National Assembly. We have made clear to the whole world that
our position is nothing but firmly constructive. We have stated that,
if Turkey ratified the Protocols, as agreed, without preconditions
and in a reasonable timeframe, failure by the Armenian Parliament to
ratify them would be precluded.

Now, the time has come to gauge the notion of a "reasonable timeframe"
and whether a conduct is "without preconditions." These criteria were
set forth by not only Armenia, but also all the mediators involved
in the process, all of our international partners.

For a whole year, Turkey’s senior officials have not spared public
statements in the language of preconditions. For a whole year, Turkey
has done everything to protract time and fail the process. Hence,
our conclusion and position are straightforward:

1. Turkey is not ready to continue the process that was started and
to move forward without preconditions in line with the letter of
the Protocols.

2. The reasonable timeframes have, in our opinion, elapsed. The
Turkish practice of passing the 24th of April at any cost is simply
unacceptable.

3. We consider unacceptable the pointless efforts of making the
dialogue between Armenia and Turkey an end in itself; from this moment
on, we consider the current phase of normalization exhausted.

My Fellow Armenians;

During this period, I have discussed and continue discussing the future
of the process launched with Turkey with Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy of
France, Barack Obama of the United States, Dmitri Medvedev of Russia,
as well as our colleagues in a number of European organizations. We
are grateful to them for supporting our initiative, encouraging the
process, and exerting efforts to secure progress. The matter of the
fact is that our partners have urged us to continue the process,
rather than to discontinue it.

Out of respect for them, their efforts, and their sincere aspirations,
we have decided after consulting our Coalition partners and the
National Security Council not to exit the process for the time being,
but rather, to suspend the procedure of ratifying the Protocols. We
believe this to be in the best interests of our nation.

Armenia shall retain her signature under the Protocols, because we
desire to maintain the existing momentum for normalizing relations,
because we desire peace. Our political objective of normalizing
relations between Armenia and Turkey remains valid, and we shall
consider moving forward when we are convinced that there is a proper
environment in Turkey and there is leadership in Ankara ready to
reengage in the normalization process.

While announcing to the world the end of the current phase of the
process, which was launched with the September 2008 match between the
national football teams of Armenia and Turkey, I express gratitude to
President Abdullah Gul of Turkey for political correctness displayed
throughout this period and the positive relationship that developed
between us.

Fellow Compatriots; In two days, we will commemorate the 95th
anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century, the remembrance
day of the Armenian Genocide. Our struggle for the international
recognition of the Genocide continues. If some circles in Turkey
attempt to use our candor to our detriment, to manipulate the process
to avoid the reality of the 24th of April, they should know all too
well that the 24th of April is the day that symbolizes the Armenian
Genocide, but in no way shall it mark the time boundary of its
international recognition.

We express our gratitude to all the states, organizations, and
individuals that support us in deploring and preventing crimes against
humanity. We are also grateful to all those Turkish intellectuals
that struggle for the restoration of historical justice and share our
grief. On this eve of the 95th anniversary, we call upon everyone to
remember that the memory of one and a half million innocent victims
exterminated under a state-orchestrated program merely for being
Armenian continues to pose before mankind the demand for recognition
and condemnation.

Fellow Compatriots; We are stronger today than ever before and stand
straight as always.

Henceforth, our efforts for a better Armenia, a better region,
a better world, and a more solid unity of Armenians worldwide will
only multiply. Rest assured that results will be visible all along.

God bless us!