PanARMENIAN.Net
Armenian authorities will never agree to Turkey’s co-chairmanship in
OSCE Minsk Group
Inner policy review on the events 09.11.09-14.11.09
14.11.2009 GMT+04:00
Major events of the past week were the responses of various Armenian
political parties to external factors, particularly to the statements
of Turkish officials, and several political parties’ assessment of the
state budget of Armenia for the year of 2010.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The political week in Armenia started with a
high-level meeting between the leaders of three traditional Armenian
parties. Participating in the meeting were Chairman of the Social
Democratic Hunchakian Party Central Executive Setrak Adjemian,
Chairman of the Armenian Democratic Liberal (Ramgavar-Azatagan party)
Central Executive Mike Kharabian and the ARF Dashnaktsoutiun Bureau
Chairman Hrant Markarian, who discussed the current state of
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations and other pan-Armenian
issues.
This week President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has not yet submitted
the Armenian-Turkish Protocols to the Constitutional Court of Armenia.
According to Spokesman of the Constitutional Court Hovhannes Papikyan
it is yet unknown when the document will be submitted.
Earlier this week, various statements by Turkish and Azerbaijani MPs
on the possibility of Turkey’s co-chairmanship in the OSCE Minsk Group
were discussed by Spokesman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
Eduard Sharmazanov, who told PanARMENIAN.Net that such statements `are
conditioned by morbid imagination and stupidity of their authors’.
`The Armenian authorities will never agree to Turkey’s co-chairmanship
on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation. It is our position and we
are not going to change it,’ underlined the RPA spokesman. A similar
view was expressed by another representative of the Republican Party
of Armenia Lernik Alexanian. `Direct participation of Turkey in the
works of the OSCE Minsk Group is excluded,’ declared Alexanian at a
press conference in Yerevan.
In the middle of the week his view on the issue expressed also Leader
of the National Neoconservative Movement of Armenia (NNM) Eduard
Abrahamyan. `Baku’s dream to see her `elder brother’ Turkey as
Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group is unrealistic,’ he told
PanARMENIAN.Net and added that `change of the OSCE MG format depends
not only on Azerbaijan but on Armenia as well.’
Certain sharpness to the debate on the Armenian-Turkish Protocols was
added by Director of the Armenian Center for Basic Sciences, Member of
the Defense and National Security Commission of the Public Council
Simon Kamsarakan, who addressed an open letter to Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan on the inconsistency between the Armenian and English
versions of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols. Moreover, in his opinion,
the Armenian version of the initialed Protocols differs substantially
from the already signed Protocol, placed on the official website of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. `A simple comparison of
the texts makes it clear that this is not a result of inaccurate
translation, but an obvious deception,’ noted Kamsarakan. Member of RA
Public Council on Defense and National Security submitted another open
letter to Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan, informing the Armenian
FM that he has already requested Prosecutor General to institute an
action against the Minister for violating the constitutional order and
abusing his authority to the detriment of Armenia’s national security
and defense.
His stance to the Armenian-Turkish Protocols expressed also leader of
the People’s Party of Armenia Tigran Karapetyan. `We are opposed to
the current process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations
since Armenia does not conduct an independent policy, but determines
her steps with Turkey’s position,’ – leader of People’s Party declared
at a joint news conference in Yerevan. Karapetyan aldo noted that
pro-opposition forces which do not actively oppose ratification of the
Protocols, assist authorities some way or another. `First of all, I
mean the Armenian National Congress (ANC), which is silent now,’
Karapetyan stressed.
However, some political scientists of Armenia favor early ratification
by Armenia, without waiting for the decision of the Turkish
Parliament. According to Head of the Analytical Center on
Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) Stepan Grigoryan,
`Protracting the ratification process, Yerevan may provoke the
inclusion of Karabakh issue into the talks with Ankara. In this case,
Azerbaijan will receive additional time to exert pressure on Turkey on
the issue of Karabakh.’ He added that Armenian MPs, representing
coalition forces, in all probability have received a `signal’ from the
Government not to ratify the Protocols ahead of Turkish Parliament.
Grigoryan believes that the Turkish side will ratify the documents as
soon as the Protocols are approved and ratified by Armenia. Grigoryan
also stressed that the border will be opened within terms envisaged in
the Protocols.
Once again, his weighty opinion in this dispute expressed Head of the
Armenian Delegation in OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Member of the
parliamentary faction `Prosperous Armenia’ Aram Safaryan. `National
Assembly of Armenia will ratify the Protocols, after the Turkish
Parliament. If the Turkish parliament ratifies the protocols without
preconditions, the Armenian National Assembly will do the same. If
Turkey sets preconditions and tries to link the process to Karabakh,
the Armenian Parliament will do the same, Safaryan stated in an
interview with the correspondent of PanARMENIAN.Net, stressing that
such spirit prevails among Coalition MPs of Armenia.
A kind of neutrality expressed the Armenian National Congress, saying
it would avoid a political extremism in the Armenian-Turkish
rapprochement. During the meeting, ANC activist Ex-President Levon
Ter-Petrosian reiterated that the ANC stands for normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations without preconditions. He described the
current process of the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement as sensitive and
requiring great responsibility both from the authorities and the
opposition. He also noted that the ANC will continue to be guided by
that awareness, avoiding reckless actions and political extremism.
In the mid-week youth wing activists of `Heritage’ party and
representatives of public organizations gathered near the
Constitutional Court of Armenia to protest against Armenian-Turkish
Protocols. Protest was attended by `Heritage’ faction MP Zaruhi
Postanjyan, representatives of Teghut group initiative and `Lawyers
for Human Rights’ NGO. Next day, on November 13, MP of the
parliamentary faction of the Heritage Party Zaruhi Postanjyan issued a
statement addressed to the Chief of Police, Alik Sargsyan, Attorney
General Aghvan Hovsepyan and Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan, claiming
that on November 12 at the law enforcement bodies had exerted pressure
on the protesters forcing them to move to the opposite sidewalk of
Baghramyan Avenue. The MP also noted that after the protest action
held before the Constitutional Court, the police hindered the
protesters to enter the Presidential Residence with anti-Turkish
posters.
Toward the end of the week the Armenian Government once again opposed
the bill on recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic independence,
initiated by the Heritage party. `At the moment recognition of the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic independence appears inexpedient to us,’
declared Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan,
speaking at a regular meeting of the Government of Armenia.
On Friday, November 13, several political parties of Armenia made a
statement, assessing the draft law on State budget for 2010. His
concern about the declining funds on Armenian defense for 2010
expressed the party `Heritage’. `The State Budget of 2010 will provide
116 billion drams to the Ministry of Defense of Armenia. In 2009 the
indicator was 146 billion. In the current state of events, security
issues should be given more attention,’ declared Chairman of the party
Armen Martirosyan. He also criticized the cost reduction in social
sphere. A similar assessment was made also by the ARF Dashnaktsutyun.
This week her diplomatic mission in Armenia completed Resident
Coordinator of UN headquarters in Armenia Consuelo Vidal. The Armenian
leadership thanked Consuelo Vidal for her four years of productive
work and support programs aimed at Armenia’s development. On the
occasion of the completion of her diplomatic mission, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Armenia awarded Consuelo Vidal with a commemorative
medal.
Review by Mikhail Balayan