Turkey Warns Protocols Could Fall Through
Asbarez
Jan 29th, 2010
ThisLONDON (Combined Sources)`Efforts to normalize relations between
Turkey and Armenia and open their common border could fail unless the
process is carried out `properly,’ Turkey’s foreign minister said
Friday, referring to a ruling by Armenia’s Constitutional Court over
the protocols.
`If we are not convinced that the process is being carried out
properly, there is no possibility to carry it forward,’ Ahmet
Davutoglu told Turkish journalists a London.
Davutoglu’s warning is the strongest response yet from Turkey to an
Armenian court ruling this month that has cast doubt over accords
signed in October.
Armenia’s Constitutional Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of the
agreements on January 12, but highlighted that the agreements could
have no bearing on the Armenian government’s constitutional obligation
to seek international recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Ottoman
Turkey. The court also reiterated that the protocols could have no
link to the Karabakh conflict.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian is bound by the constitution to
include the high court’s reservations when he submits the protocols to
parliament for ratification.
Davutoglu has accused Armenia of trying to rewrite the protocols that
launched the reconciliation three months ago.
`We respect every country’s way of functioning. It is their own
process, but what concerns us is not changing the documents amid that
ongoing functioning,’ he said in reference to the court ruling, the
Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Davutoglu made his remarks after meeting Thursday with his Armenian
counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, on the sidelines of an international
conference regarding Afghanistan.
`We believe [the court ruling] brings restrictions to the protocols.
We raised our expectation that the process should not be blurred,’
Davutoglu said of his meeting with Nalbandian.
Davutoglu said he is seeking clarification from the Armenian side over
the extent to which Sarkisian’s administration will adhere to the
court ruling.
`We have worked with Nalbandian on various stages and gone through a
difficult process. There were disagreements but the process that has
carried us this far should not be harmed,’ Davutoglu said, adding that
`mutual determination, mutual goodwill and mutual political will are
needed for normalization’ of relations.
Davutoglu predictably made no mention of growing international
frustration with Turkey over its attempts to insert preconditions into
the normalization process by linking the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to its parliament’s ratification of the
protocols.
`We have open-mindedly exchanged our views [with Nalbandian],’ said
DavutoÄ?lu, who declined to elaborate further, saying only, `The
Armenian side is well aware of our opinion.’
The two ministers agreed to meet more in the coming days. One of those
meetings could be on the sidelines of an international security
conference in Munich, Germany next week, Hurriyet said, quoting
unnamed Turkish diplomats. Nalbandian, however, is reportedly not to
attend the Munich conference, according to the Armenian Foreign
Ministry.
`There is not a visit to Munich and a meeting with Turkey’s Foreign
Minister in Mr. Nalbandian’s schedule,’ Foreign Ministry spokesman
Tigran Balayan was quoted as saying.
The Armenian court ruling spurred much diplomatic traffic on the
sidelines of the London conference. Davutoglu met with his Azerbaijani
counterpart, Elmar Mammadyarov, on Thursday for talks on the matter.
Davutoglu also held a 15-minute meeting with U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton on Wednesday and said he conveyed Turkey’s concerns
over the Armenian court decision to Washington. `I am of the opinion
that the United States better understands Turkey’s concerns.’ Clinton
met separately with Nalbandian.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also met separately with
Nalbandian and his Azeri counterpart over the ongoing Minsk Group
Karabakh negotiations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
