ARE ARMENIA’S POLICIES MAKING TURKEY STRONGER?
Panorama.am
17:56 05/08/2009
The Armenian Foreign Ministry, in all likelihood, has a comprehensive
strategic plan regarding Armenia’s relations with its immediate
neighbors (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey), with major powers
near and far (China, France, Great Britain, Russia, United States),
and with other key states around the world.
At the most basic level, Armenia’s leaders are expected to maximize
their country’s national interests and counter all anti-Armenian
efforts. Based on this simple criterion, I would like to make an
assessment of several critical issues related to Turkey, Armenia’s
most problematic neighbor.
Turkey has not only committed genocide against the Armenian nation and
continues to enjoy the fruits of that crime, it also spends millions
of dollars every year to deny the facts of history and defame the
Armenian people.
Ever since its inception, the Turkish Republic has consistently pursued
the anti-Armenian policies of its Ottoman predecessors. Turkey has
blockaded Armenia since 1993 — an act of war — in order to force
it to make territorial concessions on Artsakh (Karabagh). Shortly
after Armenia’s independence, Turkish, on at least one occasion,
amassed troops on the border, threatening to attack Armenia. Moreover,
Turkey has trained and armed Azerbaijan’s military to enable it to
invade Artsakh and exterminate its ethnic Armenian population.
Turkey also carries out anti-Armenian activities through various
diplomatic channels. Turkish delegates regularly join their Azeri
colleagues in casting votes against Armenia and Artsakh in the Council
of Europe, the United Nations, and the Conference of Islamic States.
Finally, Turkey continues to hold hostage its Armenian population,
depriving it of the most basic cultural, educational and religious
rights.
Under these circumstances, it is incumbent upon Armenian officials
to carefully weigh whether the decisions they take regarding Turkey
inadvertently contribute to their hostile neighbor’s political and
economic strength.
Here are a few examples of such decisions:
Armenia should not accept any preconditions for negotiations with
Turkey on the opening of the border and should not have agreed to
make a joint announcement on the eve of April 24 which helped boost
Turkey’s prestige and undermined efforts to acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide by the United States and others.
Armenia should not recognize Turkey’s present boundaries and should
reject treaties signed by Soviet Armenia, in order not to preclude
future Armenian territorial claims.
Armenia should not agree to the Turkish demand of forming a joint
historical commission to review the facts of the Armenian Genocide,
in order to avoid the questioning of the veracity of the genocide
and not to harm the chances of its acknowledgment by third parties.
Armenia should not allow Turkey to stick its nose in the
Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations over Artsakh, in order not to help
boost Turkey’s image as a credible mediator in Afghanistan, Iran,
Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Syria.
Armenia’s President should not attend the October 14 soccer match in
Turkey, unless Turkish leaders first abide by their written agreement
to open the border. Armenian officials should not help give credence
to false Turkish claims that it is engaged in serious negotiations
with Armenia.
Armenia’s leaders should not support Turkey’s efforts to join the
European Union in order not to increase the Turks’ political and
economic strength. Given its huge population in comparison with most
other EU countries, Turkey would be entitled to a large number of
votes in the European Parliament, enabling it to pass anti-Armenian
resolutions.
Last Fall, when Turkey was desperately seeking votes to join the
U.N. Security Council, Armenia and Armenians worldwide made almost no
attempts to prevent its gaining such a critical seat for the first
time in almost half a century. Turkey can now use that prestigious
position to pass resolutions in the U.N. against Armenia and Artsakh.
In 2006, in the aftermath of Israel’s attack on Lebanon, Armenia
and Armenians did not prevent Turkey from contributing peacekeeping
troops to UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). This
made possible the stationing of the Turkish military for the first
time since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in an Arab country that
hosts the largest Armenian community in the Middle East.
Finally, Armenians should boycott Turkish products and should not go
on vacation to Turkey in order not to contribute to the economy of a
hostile state. Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan should be commended for
ordering Armenian government officials not to spend their vacation
in Turkey and for encouraging local travel agencies to prepare tour
packages at competitive rates for Armenians to vacation in Artsakh.
There already exists an overwhelming imbalance between the political,
economic, and military strengths of Armenia and Turkey. By carefully
considering the impact of their every decision, Armenia’s leaders
should narrow, rather than increase, that imbalance!
By The Publisher of California Courier Harut Sassounian