NO TURNING BACK FROM ARMENIA PROTOCOLS, DAVUTOGLU SAYS
Today’s Zaman
May 14 2010
Turkey
A process of reconciliation with neighboring Armenia is still under
way despite obstacles, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said yesterday,
warning that everyone will lose if the efforts collapse.
"The process has reached a certain point, and it is in no one’s
interest to turn back," Davutoglu said in remarks broadcast on the
private Haberturk television station. "It would not serve the interests
of Turkey or Armenia — or even Azerbaijan."
Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols in October to normalize their
relations, but the process hit a snag after Azerbaijan, a close ally of
Turkey, protested the deal, warning that Turkish-Armenian rapprochement
would damage regional stability if it takes place without progress in
its territorial dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey
closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity with
Azerbaijan in its war against Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. When
Turkey said there would be no progress in its reconciliation efforts
with Armenia without progress on the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, Armenia
responded by suspending the ratification process of the two protocols.
Davutoglu said his government was aware the process would not proceed
without difficulties. "What is important is not to take a step back
in pessimism," he added.
The foreign minister also commented on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s visit to Greece, which begins today. He said the trip will
help "maximize" cooperation and obliterate the notion of tension
between the two nations. "Our aim is not only to minimize tensions. We
should maximize cooperation to such an extent that there will be no
sense of tension in our minds," he said, adding that "overcoming the
psychological threshold" was the primary objective.