TURKEY ACCORD ABROGATION ‘STILL AN OPTION’ FOR ARMENIA
Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenialiberty.org
April 27 2010

President Serzh Sarkisian held out hope for Armenian electricity
exports to Turkey on Tuesday just as one of his top diplomats
warned that Yerevan may still formally rescind the Turkish-Armenian
normalization agreements.

Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, meanwhile, brushed aside continuing
domestic criticism of the Sarkisian administration’s policy on Turkey
and accused Armenia’s previous leadership of committing foreign policy
"mistakes."

Sarkisian touched, in passing, upon his decision to freeze Armenian
parliamentary ratification of the agreements as he chaired a regular
meeting of his advisory Council on Atomic Energy Safety. He said
the opening of the Turkish-Armenian frontier, which he described as
"Europe’s last closed border," would give a massive boost to energy
cooperation in the region.

"Despite the fact that the process has been suspended because of
the Turkish government’s inactivity, we see a potential to export
electricity to Turkey and, by transit, on to countries of the Middle
East," the president said. He did not specify whether he thinks
Armenian power supplies could start before the Turkish-Armenian
protocols are put into effect.

An agreement on such deliveries was reportedly reached by Armenian
and Turkish energy companies during Turkish President Abdullah
Gul’s historic visit to Yerevan in September 2008. Energy Minister
Armen Movsisian and other Armenian officials repeatedly said in the
following months that power grids in eastern Turkey are gearing up
electricity supplies from Armenia.

Movsisian said in October last year that the energy deal has not been
implemented because of "political problems in Turkey." The effective
freezing of the Turkish-Armenian protocols announced by Sarkisian on
April 22 seems to have made the launch of energy cooperation between
the two neighboring states even more problematic.

Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service after the meeting of the
presidential council, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian
defended Sarkisian’s decision not to walk away from the protocols
despite Ankara’s refusal to unconditionally ratify them.

"Let us not forget that we too have an option to withdraw our
signatures [from the protocols,]" Kirakosian said. "That is a variant.

Depending on further developments in the process, we may use that
variant."

The diplomat added that such a scenario will be "definitely possible"
if the normalization process remains deadlocked. But he could not
say just how long Yerevan is ready to wait.

"If there are credible statements and actions by the Turkish
leadership, there will be adequate steps on our part," Nalbandian
told Armenian Public Television late on Monday. "But I see no need
whatsoever to start new negotiations [with Ankara.]"

Nalbandian also hit out at domestic critics of the Sarkisian
administration’s policy on Turkey. He said recent resolutions
approved by U.S. and Swedish lawmakers disproved their claims that
the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement will halt broader international
recognition of the Armenian genocide.

And in an apparent jibe at former President Robert Kocharian,
Nalbandian said: "You know, when it comes to ensuring the continuity
of foreign policy, that doesn’t mean we should continue mistakes. We
must not repeat mistakes, and it is this logic that led the president
of the republic to start this process." He did not elaborate.

Earlier on Monday, a key member of the Kocharian administration,
former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, renewed his strong criticism
of the protocols and said Sarkisian has opted for the worst possible
response to the Turkish delay tactic. "If there were half a dozen
possible exit strategies from this situation – from doing nothing to
revoking Armenia’s signature – the government has chosen the option
least beneficial to us," Oskanian said in a statement.

Kirakosian, who served as deputy foreign minister also under Oskanian,
disagreed with the claim, arguing that Sarkisian’s move has been
praised by the United States and other foreign powers. "I think it
was the right decision," he said. "Right now we are waiting to see
what developments will occur in Turkey in relation to the ratification
process."