SLOW ROAD TO PEACE FOR TURKEY AND ARMENIA
By Andrey Volkov
The Epoch Times
/34134/
April 26 2010
Century-old genocide still an open wound
After nearly a century of conflict between Armenia and Turkey,
the current process of normalizing relations is not going smoothly,
and has triggered concerns over the future of the region.
Armenia and its large diaspora worldwide commemorate April 24 as the
anniversary of the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of
the Ottoman Empire–modern day Turkey–during World War I. This year
marked the 95th anniversary of the 1915 massacre.
The crimes committed by the Ottoman Empire are recognized as genocide
by many historians, human rights groups, and countries. However,
the genocide is a touchy subject in Turkey, which fiercely denies
the incident.
On Saturday’s day of remembrance, President Barack Obama issued a
statement of commemoration, saying, "The Meds Yeghern is a devastating
chapter in the history of the Armenian people, and we must keep its
memory alive in honor of those who were murdered and so that we do
not repeat the grave mistakes of the past."
The Armenian term "Meds Yeghern," which was used by Obama in his
statement means "Great Catastrophe" and is the term used by Armenians
to refer to the genocide. Still, some Armenian-Americans were unhappy
that Obama did not directly use the term "genocide."
"President Obama today once again failed to properly recognize the
Armenian genocide, offering euphemisms and evasive terminology to
characterize this crime against humanity," said the Armenian National
Committee of America in written reaction to the statement.
Obama’s comments are particularly significant this year, and last
month the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly passed a
resolution officially acknowledging the genocide.
Immediately after the House resolution, Turkey called its ambassador
back from Washington in protest.
Diplomatic Deadlock
Obama’s April 24 statement also talked about his hopes for
reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. "Together, the Turkish
and Armenian people will be stronger as they acknowledge their common
history and recognize their common humanity," he said.
The two countries remain far apart in acknowledging any common history
on the genocide issue, and recent attempts at reopening their border
and restoring relations seem unlikely to succeed.
Last October, with the help of the United States, Russia, and France,
Armenia and Turkey signed a peace agreement. However, the agreement
was never ratified in either country.
In the 1990s, Armenia engaged in war with Azerbaijan over
the Nagorno-Karabakh region. When the Soviet bloc broke up,
Nagorno-Karabakh announced its withdrawal from Russia to join Armenia.
Thousands of people lost their lives in the conflict.
At the time, Turkey closed her borders with Armenia in protest,
and Nagorno-Karabakh was ultimately occupied by the Armenian military.
A year later, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a fragile document for
reconciliation leaving Karabakh under de facto Armenian control,
but the issue has never been formally resolved.
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted this week
that ratification of the October accord was dependent on Armenia
signing a peace deal with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian Parliament then said that it was suspending the
ratification process until Turkey stops setting up additional
conditions.
"The political majority in the National Assembly considers
statements from the Turkish side in recent days as unacceptable,
specifically those by Prime Minister Erdogan, who has again made the
ratification of the Armenia-Turkish protocols by the Turkish Parliament
directly dependent on a resolution over Nagorno-Karabakh," a ruling
parliamentary coalition of Armenia said in a statement on April 22.
Armenia’s President Serzh Azati Sargsyan said in a televised address
to the nation the same day that "over the last year, Turkey has been
doing everything to buy time and interfere with that process. The
given time has run out."
Strategic Interests
The United States, Russia, and the European Union are all keenly
interested in stabilizing the situation between Armenia and Turkey.
South Caucasus is an important region for oil and gas for the EU.
Achieving peace in the region would help smooth the path for Turkey’s
negotiations to join the Union.
Washington seeks to stabilize the situation to help ensure peace in
the region–given that Turkey is a member of NATO.
On the Armenian side, the country is completely dependent on Russia.
Russia considers the post-Soviet territory to be within its sphere
of its influence and wants to keep it that as a strategic gas route.
Normalizing diplomacy with Turkey could open a "second door" for
Armenia, allowing it to move toward integrating more with the rest
of the world.