Author: Kharatian Ani

L’OPPOSITION CRITIQUE L’ANNONCE DE SARKISSIAN SUR LA TURQUIE
par Marion

armenews
mardi27 avril 2010
Armenie – Turquie

Les principales forces de l’opposition armenienne ont profite
du dernier rebondissement dans le processus de normalisation
turco-armenien pour critiquer a nouveau la politique de rapprochement
avec la Turquie du president Serge Sarkissian.

Le Congrès national armenien (HAK) a declare que la decision de geler
la ratification parlementaire des protocoles turco-armeniens devoile la
" faillite " de sa politique etrangère.

" En suspendant le processus de ratification tout en exprimant la
volonte de le poursuivre, le regime est en train de reconnaître qu’il
s’est retrouve dans une impasse … et tente de sauver les apparences
vis-a-vis de l’opinion publique armenienne et de la communaute
internationale, a coup d’actions insuffisantes, incoherentes et sans
scrupules ", a declare le HAK dans un communique.

Le parti, dirige par l’ancien president Levon Ter-Petrossian a
reitere ses revendications selon lesquelles Sarkissian s’est servi du
rapprochement pour acquerir une legitimite internationale au detriment
de la reconnaissance internationale plus large du genocide armenien.

" Contrairement a ses objectifs declares, le processus de
reconciliation turco-armenien s’est transforme en un processus de
confrontation turco-armenien ".

Le parti Heritage (Zharangutyun), a quant a lui exprime une critique
plus nuancee. Commentant l’appel a la nation de Sarkissian, son
leader, Raffi Hovannissian, a declare que le president a agi comme
" un bon tacticien aux vues de la situation actuelle ".

" Mais un bon stratège n’aurait pas dû permettre a une telle situation
de s’installer ", a declare Hovannissian lors d’une conference de
presse, reaffirmant la forte opposition de son parti aux protocoles.

La Federation revolutionnaire armenienne (FRA), n’a pas encore
officiellement reagi a l’annonce de Sarkissian. Le porte-parole du
parti aux Affaires etrangères, Giro Manoyan, a declare a RFE / RL,
jeudi, que le president aurait dû aller plus loin et abandonner
complètement les protocoles.

Un porte-parole du Parti republicain d’Armenie (HHK), Edouard
Sharmazanov, a rejete ces critiques, vendredi. " Avec cet appel,
le president a demontre que la Republique d’Armenie est contre la
normalisation des relations avec la Turquie a tout prix ", a-t-il
assure aux journalistes.

APRIL 24 COMMEMORATED FOR FIRST TIME IN TURKEY

Today’s Zaman
April 26 2010
Turkey

Various demonstrations were organized in Turkey, Armenia and the US
on April 24, the day Armenians commemorate the anniversary of the
so-called genocide in 1915.

Though similar demonstrations have become a tradition, this year was
somewhat different because a group of Turkish intellectuals expressed
their sadness over the sufferings that occurred almost a century ago.

Three protests took place on Saturday in Taksim Square, at the
HaydarpaÅ~_a Train Station and in front of the Turkish-Armenian Agos
weekly. There were also counter protests in all three locations.

Possible clashed were prevented by police.

A sit-down strike organized by the Say No to Racism and Nationalism
initiative in Taksim Square was attended by a group of public figures
including Professor Ahmet Ä°nsel, columnists Ali Bayramoglu, Roni
Marguiles, Alper GörmuÅ~_, Ferhat Kentel, Erol Katırcıoglu and Umit
Kıvanc, Birikim journal Editor-in-Chief Omer Laciner, pro-Kurdish
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Ufuk Uras and artists Nur
Surer and Zeynep Tanbay.

"The huge pain this great catastrophe puts on our consciences is here.

We call all Turkish citizens who feel this huge pain in their hearts to
bow respectfully before the victims of the memories of 1915," Tanbay
said on behalf of the group. A nationalist group shouted slogans such
as "This is Turkey" and "We are soldiers of Mustafa Kemal [Ataturk]"
in reaction to the statement. No major incident occurred thanks to
police intervention.

While members of the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed (ESP) left
carnations in front of the Agos newspaper, another sit-down protest
was organized at the HaydarpaÅ~_a Train Station by the Human Rights
Association (Ä°HD). There was a counter protest in response to the
Ä°HD’s demonstration. Speaking on behalf of that group, retired Gen.

Edip BaÅ~_er said it was "shameful" that such a protest occurred
in Turkey.

Protests in Armenia were not that peaceful. In Yerevan, Turkish flags
as well as posters of President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu were burned in
a rally of 10,000 people, which was organized by ultra-nationalist
Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun.

Protests took place in front of the Turkish Embassy in Washington,
D.C., as well. Almost 200 people from each side gathered in front of
the embassy and shouted slogans. The Turkish group was later received
by Turkish Ambassador Namık Tan.

TURKEY: DAVUTOGLU’S TO-DO LIST

p;nid=2456

26 April 2010

Following his trip to the United States, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu traveled to Azerbaijan April 19, after which he will travel
to Iran. Though Ankara and Washington are pursuing a fresh diplomatic
attempt to simultaneously restore Turkish-Armenian ties and resolve
territorial differences between Azerbaijan and Armenia, they will
continue to face heavy resistance from both Baku and Moscow in their
efforts. Meanwhile, Turkey will use the Armenian-Azerbaijan dispute
to involve Iran in another regional affair, thereby showing Ankara’s
capacity as a potential mediator between the United States and Iran.

Analysis Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu traveled to
Azerbaijan April 19 after departing from Washington, where he and
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with U.S. officials
to discuss the contentious issues of Turkish-Armenian diplomatic
normalization and a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh territorial
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

During Erdogan’s stay, U.S. President Barack Obama was firm with
Erdogan in expressing Washington’s desire for Turkey to move forward
in signing the parliamentary protocols to reopen Turkey’s border
with Armenia. A stronger Turkish presence in the Caucasus would,
in the United States’ view, pose a counter to Russian influence in
the region and potentially expands trade and transit from the Middle
East to Central Asia without having to traverse Russian territory – a
growing strategic need for the United States as it seeks to militarily
extricate itself from Iraq and transfer resources to Afghanistan.

Turkey, however, has demanded in return that the United States, along
with France and Russia, first do their part within the Minsk Group
to pressure Armenia into conceding on Nagorno-Karabakh. Only then,
Turkey argues, can it effectively deal with Azerbaijan, which has been
alienated by the Turkish-Armenian negotiations and has consequently
grown closer to Russia, putting Turkey’s and Western Europe’s energy
diversification plans at risk. According to STRATFOR sources in
Turkey, Erdogan and Obama have come up with a preliminary proposal
that would entail Armenia publicly outlining a road map to withdraw
from a certain mountainous section of Nagorno-Karabakh. That way,
Turkey can distance itself from the Minsk Group’s efforts and show
at least some progress on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue to move forward
with the Armenia protocols.

It is thus up to Turkey to convince Azerbaijan to go along with this
proposal (hence Davutoglu’s trip to Baku) and up to the United States
to convince Armenia to make this public concession. Success is not
assured in either effort, particularly given the history of past road
maps that have ended in stalemate and as Russia, which has significant
influence over Armenia and growing influence over Azerbaijan, will
be expected to scuttle this latest proposal.

Indeed, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has been called up for a
visit to Moscow April 20 to discuss the latest U.S.-Turkish push on the
protocols. STRATFOR sources in Armenia say Russia is urging Sarkisian
to push for legislation that would allow the president to withdraw
from an agreement with Turkey at any time without parliamentary
approval. Such a move would allow Russia more freedom to hamper the
talks when the need arises.

Azerbaijan, meanwhile, is already angry at the United States for not
including it in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on April
12, where Armenian, Turkish and U.S. officials met on the sidelines
to discuss this issue. Baku’s anger could be seen in Azerbaijan’s
cancellation of joint military drills with the United States planned
for May.

While the United States has been firm with Turkey on the issue of
Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey has been just as firm with the United
States in defending Iran. Davutoglu is scheduled to leave Baku for
Tehran to inform the Iranian leadership of the results of his meetings
in Washington. In defiance of the U.S.-hosted Nuclear Security Summit,
Iran hosted its own nuclear summit in Tehran April 17-18 and is
feeling confident about its ability to deflect U.S. pressure on its
nuclear activities.

For Turkey to demonstrate that it is playing a useful mediator role in
this conflict, it needs to show it can carry some influence with Iran.

For this reason, Turkey likely will entertain Iran’s efforts to get
involved in other regional disputes, such as the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, as a way of recognizing Iran’s regional clout to earn
Tehran’s trust in the ongoing nuclear negotiations.

Moreover, involving Iran in the negotiations is a way to further dilute
Turkey’s responsibility over the Nagorno-Karabakh affair and provide
Ankara with more room to maneuver in its negotiations with Armenia. To
this end, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced April
19 that Iran will host a meeting among foreign ministers from Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Iran. Iran does not carry nearly as much influence in
this dispute as Turkey and Russia, but it is another foreign policy
arena for Tehran to project its influence with Turkey’s endorsement.

VLADIMIR ZHIRINOVSKY: ARMENIA’S LANDS IN TERRITORY OF TURKEY MUST BE FULLY RETURNED TO IT

ArmInfo
2010-04-26 11:42:00

ArmInfo. Armenia’s lands in territory of Turkey must be fully returned
to it, said Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Leader of Liberal Democratic Party
of Russia, at the rally in Moscow on occasion of the 95th Anniversary
of Armenian Genocide.

Echo of Moscow radio station reported that Vice President of the Union
of Armenians of Russia Gegham Khalatyan, Russian politicians and others
delivered speeches at the rally. The major demand of the picketers
was recognition of Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire by Turkey.

JOURNALIST SAYMAZ ON TRIAL FOR ARTICLES ABOUT ERGENEKON DEFENDANT

BIAnet.org
April 26 2010
Turkey

Radikal newspaper journalist Saymaz will stand trial on 29 April
for his critical news items concerned with "Ergenekon" defendant
Å~^ahin. At the same time, Star newspaper writer Tayyar was sentenced
to 15 months’ imprisonment.

Erol ONDEROÄ~^LU [email protected] Istanbul – BÄ°A News Center26 April
2010, Monday Radikal newspaper reporter Ä°smail Saymaz will be tried
under allegations of "violating the secrecy of the investigation" and
the "attempt to influence a fair trial" on the grounds of an article
questioning the role of Special Forces Department Deputy Chief Ä°brahim
Å~^ahin, Ergenekon defendant and convict of the Sursurluk scandal.

Saymaz’s prosecution is based on his article entitled "Creepy questions
that were not answered by Å~^ahin" published in the Radikal daily
on 11 February 2009 and on the follow ups entitled "Interrogation
of Ibrahim Å~^ahin stretches out to the TSK [Turkish Armed Forces]",
"Questions on bomb and map remain unanswered" and "Å~^ahin’s message
that ‘Armenians should die’".

Hearing on 29 April Public Prosecutor Pircan Barut Emre prepared the
indictment on 12 January. It says that Saymaz, "violated the secrecy of
the investigation by publishing pictures of people who are suspected
guilty related to the investigation and by publishing details of the
investigation. He published pictures that stigmatized people guilty
during the phase of investigation and prosecution. Considering the way
the news was published it did not fulfil the conditions of secrecy. He
misused his right to inform and to criticize in an unlawful manner".

Saymaz stands furthermore accused of violating the restriction decision
taken by the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court in the hearing on 30
July 2008 and of intentionally influencing a fair trial in respect
to the allegations drawn against Å~^ahin.

The case filed against Radikal editorial manager Hasan Cakkalkurt
on 28 March 2009 resulted in the acquittal of Cakkalkurt. The court
decided that Saymaz was to be held responsible for the articles and
thereupon opened the trial against him.

Journalist Saymaz will appear before the 1st Criminal Court of First
Instance in Bakırköy (Istanbul) on 29 April. He is facing prison
sentence of up to nine years according to articles 285 and 288 of
the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK).

The General Staff Presidency suspended the accreditation for Radikal
on 13 February 2009 by reason of false information conveyed by the
news articles.

On 11 and 12 February, Radikal published a statement made by Å~^ahin
to the prosecutor saying that he had formed a team of 300 people for
domestic cleaning and that the General Staff knew about it.

Media Association condemned Tayyar’s punishment Å~^amil Tayyar,
Ankara correspondent of the Star newspaper, was handed down a
15 months’ prison sentence by the Bakırköy 2nd Criminal Court
of First Instance. On 22 June 2009, he had reported about Colonel
Dursun Cicek, who supposedly signed the "Plan against Reactionary
Forces", to have signed his related statement at the prosecutor with
a different signature.

Tayyar had previously been sentenced to a total of 35 months
imprisonment in two different cases. Tayyar had written that "despite
the directive of Prime Minister Erdogan, the AK Party [ruling
Justice and Development Party] is delaying the amendments of the
Turkish Criminal Code and it is no longer of my concern". The Media
Association had condemned the punishment imposed on Tayyar. (EO/VK)

CCTV, China
April 25 2010

Turkey denounces Obama’s accusation on massacre

2010-04-25 08:36 BJT

Turkey’s foreign minister has denounced a statement by US President
Barack Obama that the massacre of Armenians during the First World War
was one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.

Ahmet Davutoglu said on Saturday the country does not accept judgment
of its history from the U.S. He called on US leaders to better
understand the strategic Turkish-American partnership and to respect
Turkey’s history.

Saturday marks the 95th anniversary of the World War One killing of Armenians.

Turkey accepts many Christian Armenians died in partisan fighting
beginning in 1915 but denies that up to 1 and a half million were
killed and that it amounted to genocide.

dewatch/20100425/101078.shtml

Assyrian International News Agency AINA
April 24 2010

Seyfo and Aghet: Commemorating the 1915 Assyrian, Armenian, Greek Genocide

(AINA) — All over the world, Assyrians, Armenians and Pontic Greeks
are remembering the victims of the genocide perpetrated during World
War One, where the Christian population of Asia minor was annihilated
systematically by the so-called Young Turk government. While Assyrians
call the genocide Seyfo (Sword), Armenians refer to the events as
Aghet (Catastrophe).

In worldwide initiatives, Assyrians too work for the recognition of
the genocide that Turkey still denies. Most recently, the Swedish
Parliament recognized the genocide (AINA 3-12-2010), calling on Turkey
to acknowledge it. Turkey as the legal and political successor state
of the Ottoman Empire vehemently rejects calling the killing genocide
according to the U.N. definition adopted in 1948, insisting that those
killed were victims of war and uprising.

In a statement issued by White House on the 95th anniversary of the
genocide, U.S. president Barack Obama marked the WWI era massacre by
Turkish forces, calling it one of the worst atrocities of the 20th
century, but avoided any mention of "genocide." He said: "On this
solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that 95 years ago one of
the worst atrocities of the 20th century began. In that dark moment of
history, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their
death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire".

Triggered by an adopted resolution H. Res. 252 of the U.S. House of
Representatives committee in March 2010 to call the 1915 killings a
genocide in accordance to the U.N. definition, most media attention
and political debates, like in previous years and decades, are
doubtless on the Armenians. This is legitimate in view of the tireless
efforts of the Armenian lobby working for the recognition of the
Armenian genocide. Sadly, for decades the fact that Assyrian as well
as other Christian groups fell victims has been unknown or ignored,
even though the historical record on the Assyrian suffering in the
same manner as the Armenians did is clear and documented by
overwhelming evidence. They are proven by foreign office records of
the United States, France, Great Britain, Russia, and of Turkey’s
World War I allies, Germany.

Such important evidence is for example included in the collection of
Arnold Toynbee, "On the Treatment of Armenians and Assyrian Christians
by the Turks, 1915-1916, in the Ottoman Empire and in North-West
Persia." This became a part of the "British Blue Book" which was
presented to the English public by the English State Secretary for
Foreign Affairs, Viscount James Bryce. However, the book appeared as
The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, London 1916, and
failed to name the Assyrians in the title.

According the German historian Dr. Gabriele Yonan, of the 684 pages in
this book, 104 pages refer to the massacres of Assyrians in Azerbaijan
and Hakkari (Chapter IV). Chapter IV was left out in the French
translation published in 1917. "It apparently seemed opportune at the
time to restrict the documentation to the persecution of the
Armenians, just as the title suggested," states Yonan in her book (Ein
vergessener Holocaust: Die Vernichtung der christlichen Assyrer in der
Türkei., Society for Endangered People, Göttingen, 1989). In a second
edition which was published in 1972 in Beirut, Chapter IV was once
again included, as in the English original edition. In 1989 these
documents were published for the first time in German translation in
Ein vergessener Holocaust.

In Early April the German state television broadcast a 90 minutes
documentary dedicated to the Armenian Genocide (Aghet) and based on
contributions of eyewitness, diplomats, missionaries and played by top
actors. The documentary showed what motivated the murderers and why
Germany, and other countries, remained silent. Despite the excellent
research and quality of the documentary, non-Armenian victims were
unfortunately not mentioned at all.

Until today, the Assyrian genocide remains in the shadow of the
Armenian genocide, even though the Assyrians existence was similarly
threatened and their population was decimated. Estimates are that
750,000 Assyrians of different denominations became victims of the
planned killings.

Meanwhile, ample scholarly written material on the Assyrian genocide
has appeared and in 2007 the International Association of Genocide
Scholars (IAGS), which has recognized the 1915 Armenian genocide,
extended the recognition to also include the Assyrians and Pontic
Greeks (AINA 12-15-2007).

By Abdulmesih BarAbrahem

9.htm

TURKISH-ARMENIAN RELATIONS AND AZERBAIJAN

news.az
April 23 2010
Azerbaijan

Novruz Mammadov News.Az reprints from Today’s Zaman an article by
Novruz Mammadov, foreign relations department head at Azerbaijan’s
presidential administration.

Recently, the Turkish media have widely discussed Azerbaijan’s role
in Turkish-Armenian relations.

Many commentators argue that in order to become a global player
Turkey must mend ties with Armenia, and they accuse Azerbaijan
of thwarting this process. Some even claim that Turkey has made
its foreign policy hostage to Azerbaijan’s demands. Most of these
arguments do not reflect reality.

Over the last two decades, the major impediments in Turkish-Armenian
relations have been the Armenian campaign for the recognition of the
genocide claims and Armenia’s refusal to publicly recognize the Turkish
border. Turkey’s decision to close its border with Armenia in 1993 in
response to the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding
Azerbaijani territories by Armenian forces set another milestone in
relations. On the other hand, under the influence of their Armenian
lobbies, the US and European countries have made significant efforts
to help Armenia, ignoring its continuing occupation of Azerbaijani
territories. Recently, the US has been using the possible recognition
of the Armenian genocide claims as a threat to pressure Turkey to
open the border without any preconditions.

Three main arguments are used to compel both Turkey and Azerbaijan
to accept a plan that would benefit only Armenia. Firstly, the
Turkish-Armenian problem has nothing to do with Nagorno-Karabakh,
and hence these two issues should be treated separately. Secondly,
the opening of the border will eliminate the genocide issue, which
is a major problem in US-Turkish relations. Thirdly, both Turkey and
Azerbaijan will benefit from the opening of the border because this
will contribute to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

First of all, we believe that as two states with the same people,
Turkey and Azerbaijan bear the moral responsibility to defend
each other’s interests. Those who demand that Turkey ignore the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be reminded that many Armenian
fighters in the conflict, by their own account, were driven by the
desire to ‘settle scores with the Turks’ and expelled close to a
million people from their lands by undertaking massacres such as
the one in Khojaly. These people were victims of ethnic cleansing
because they were Turks, and naturally they expected support from
Turkey. The Turks’ desire to consider the most important problem of
their Azerbaijani brethren should be clear to American officials who
prepare genocide recognition bills and pressure countries across the
ocean in order to satisfy their relatively minor Armenian population.

On the other hand, it is not plausible that the opening of the
border will relieve Turkey of the genocide problem. The Armenian
diaspora considers the genocide issue its lifeline and an important
political tool. Armenian officials have also embraced the recognition
of the genocide claims as a national cause and continue to support
it. This issue has been used as a political tool both within US
domestic politics and in its relations with Turkey. It is ironic
that those who use the genocide card to pressure Turkey to open the
border today argue these claims will be shelved with the improvement
of Turkish-Armenian relations. Turkey’s major concern should be the
scenario lurking behind the recognition campaign, as it is well known
that the other two pillars of the Armenian cause are reparation and
territorial claims.

Those who claim the opening of the border might contribute to
the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by leading to a
moderation in Armenian politics or argue that Turkey’s support for
Azerbaijan strengthens our position and makes us irreconcilable in the
negotiations are apparently not well informed on this issue. In order
to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict, Azerbaijan has closely
cooperated with the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); however, so far the negotiations have
been futile because of Armenia’s intransigence. Armenia’s track record
in the negotiations creates the impression that it wants to keep the
conflict unresolved as an excuse for an indefinite occupation. If the
expected concession from the Azerbaijani side is our acknowledgment of
the occupation, it will not happen under any conditions. The closed
borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan remain a major factor that might
compel Armenia to take a constructive step for the resolution of the
conflict. Opening the border before Armenia takes any steps in this
direction would be a major blow to the peace prospects and Azerbaijan.

Lastly, it is simply not true that Azerbaijan has not supported
Turkey. Azerbaijan was not with Turkey in the recent nuclear security
summit because it was not invited, and in fact, the media interpreted
this as yet another manifestation of US efforts to exclude Azerbaijan
from Turkish-Armenian relations. Azerbaijani officials consider
raising and defending issues important to Turkey a responsibility,
and our countries have consistently taken a unanimous position on
almost every issue in international forums. Since its independence,
Azerbaijan had to fight against the use of the Armenian genocide
claims as a political instrument because we have suffered most from
these claims. Armenia has successfully overshadowed its occupation and
ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijani territories with an active genocide
campaign in the West, and today, it is painful to observe that this
tactic has started to succeed even in Turkey.

The relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are based on strong
traditions and mutual interests. Over the last 20 years, Turkey has
been Azerbaijan’s gate to the West, and Azerbaijan has played the
same role in Turkey’s relations with Central Asia. Notwithstanding
great pressures, Azerbaijan insisted on building its major oil and
gas pipelines through Turkey toward the West. Standing by Azerbaijan
during difficult times, Turkey has earned the esteem and sympathy of
the Azerbaijani people. We consider the current external pressures
another test that will further strengthen the ties between our peoples
and countries.

YEREVAN’S DECISION NOT SURPRISE FOR ANKARA

news.am
April 23 2010
Armenia

Official Yerevan’s decision to suspend the ratification of the
Armenian-Turkish protocols was not a surprise for Turkey, but
Turkey hopes that the process will be resumed from the stage it was
interrupted at, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated told
reporters in Estonia.

According to him, further normalization of the Armenian-Turkish
relations meets both nations’ interests. Each side will benefit from
the process, but the benefits must be equally provided to all the
sides. Turkey will hold its ground, Davutoglu said.

As regards the Armenian President’s decision, the Turkish FM stated
it was a unilateral decision that has to do with Yerevan. A positive
factor is, however, that the decision underlines the intention to
continue the process. Turkey hopes it will be resumed, the Minister
said.

NEWS.am reminds readers that RA President Serzh Sargsyan made a
decision to suspend the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols,
the reason being Turkish officials’ destructive position and delay
in ratifying the documents.

FM OFFERS ‘PARALLEL PROCESS’ TO SOLVE ARMENIA DEADLOCK

Hurriyet
April 23 2010
Turkey

‘We are ready to take steps in order to further [the normalization
process] when the conditions are consistent,’ Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu says. AP photo

As the world awaited U.S. President Barack Obama’s statement Saturday
on the 1915 events in Anatolia, Turkey was pondering its next move
after Armenia abruptly withdrew from protocols that aimed to normalize
bilateral relations.

The decision did not come as a surprise, according to Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who said Turkey is seeking "parallel
parliamentary ratifications" to normalize ties with neighboring
Armenia as a way out of the deadlock.

Neither Turkey nor Armenia has ratified the protocols signed by the
two countries in October to restore diplomatic ties. Armenia accuses
Turkey of setting pre-conditions by urging that the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan be settled first.

"We shall consider moving forward when we are convinced there is a
proper environment in Turkey and there is leadership in Ankara ready
to re-engage," Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said Thursday in
a televised address.

No surprise for Turkey

"It is not a surprise for us," Davutoglu told the Hurriyet Daily News
& Economic Review on Friday. "Armenia made a one-sided decision as
a result of its domestic process. But the positive element is that
they have confirmed to continue the process."

The minister also expressed his hopes for a better climate in both
countries, saying "achieving the [normalization] process will serve
both sides, as well as the whole region," and suggesting a "parallel
ratification" process in response to Yerevan’s vow not to take any
further steps unless the Turkish Parliament ratifies the protocols
first.

"What is important for us is parallelism. It is not important when the
ratification takes place. I think the window of opportunity is still
open," he said. "I see what difficulties Sarkisian and Armenia are
dealing with. But Turkey’s concerns must be correctly analyzed too."

Å~^ukru Elekdag, Istanbul deputy for the opposition Republican People’s
Party, or CHP, and a member of Parliament’s Foreign Committee, said
Armenia is trying to force Obama to utter the word "genocide" in his
Saturday speech.

"It is widely expected that Obama, as he did last year, will use ‘Meds
Yeghern’ in his statement, a phrase in Armenian that means ‘great
catastrophe,’ rather than saying ‘genocide,’" Elekdag told the Daily
News on Friday. "Obama [wanted to] justify his attitude by pointing
out that there are ongoing talks between Turkey and Armenia. Now,
Armenia is trying to devoid him of such an explanation."

Armenia claims up to 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed
in 1915 under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey denies this,
saying that any deaths were the result of civil strife that erupted
when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.

According to Murat Mercan, the chairman of Parliament’s Foreign
Committee, Sarkisian’s statements do not bring about any status change.

"They are just saying that they will not put [the issue] on
parliament’s agenda," Mercan told the Daily News. "They could be
wanting to draw international attention to [claims of genocide]. A
statement right before April 24 could only be interpreted this way.

But big states do not determine their positions [under the influence
of] such statements."

Speaking aboard the ATA jet, Minister Davutoglu talked about his
meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and confirmed
they had agreed to continue the process. "We hope this process will
end peacefully and turn into a positive vision," he said. "I think
there is still a chance to achieve a common vision."

Göksel Bozkurt contributed to this report from Ankara.