Author: Talalian Arpi

DER SPIEGEL: THE WORLD MUST RESPOND. SERZH SARGSYAN ON HISTORICAL JUSTICE AND ANKARA’S PROPOSAL

Tert.am

Full text of President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan’s interview with
German weekly Der Spiegel follows:

Der Spiegel: In his interview with Der Spiegel, speaking about the
Genocide which had taken place during World War I, Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that "there can be no talk of
genocide." Why cannot your neighboring country come to terms with
its own past?

Sargsyan: Recently another statement was made that the Turks couldn’t
have possibly committed the Genocide and the Turkish history is "bright
and clear as the sun". The Turks are opposed to the definition of
the event as Genocide. However, Ankara is not the one to decide on
this issue.

Der Spiegel: Now Erdogan is even threatening to expel thousands of
Armenians illegally residing in Turkey.

Sargsyan: Unacceptable statements such as that one stir up in our
nation the memories of the Genocide. Unfortunately, such statements
articulated by the Turkish politicians come as no surprise to me.

Der Spiegel: How should the international community respond?

Sargsyan: The international community must respond resolutely. The
US, Europe, as well as Germany, all those countries that have been
involved in this process of Armenian-Turkish rapprochement should
unequivocally state their position. Had all the states recognized
the Armenian Genocide by now, the Turks wouldn’t talk that way. It is
however inspiring that many young people in Turkey stood up against
that statement. A new generation is growing in Turkey and the political
leadership of that country should reckon with its opinion.

Der Spiegel: Turkey accuses you of maintaining a tough position on
setting up a bilateral commission of historians. Why do you oppose
the creation of such a commission?

Sargsyan: How can such a commission work impartially if in Turkey
people are persecuted and tried for a criminal offence if they use
the very term Genocide? For Ankara it is important to protract the
process of decision-making indefinitely so that when parliaments or
governments of other countries undertake the adoption of aresolution
on the Genocide recognition, they can say, "don’t meddle in, these
issues are being sorted out by our historians." Creation of such a
commission would have meant casting doubt on the veracity of the
Genocide perpetrated against our people. It is unacceptable. Had
Turkey admitted its guilt, the creation of the commission would have
been justified. In that case the scholars could have studied jointly
the causes triggering that tragedy.

Der Spiegel: The Genocide took place 95 years ago. Why its recognition
is so important for Armenia?

Sargsyan: It is a matter of historical justice and it is also a matter
of our national security. The best way to prevent the repetition of
such horrendous events is to condemn them unambiguously.

Der Spiegel: From the windows of your office one can see the symbol of
Armenia – Mount Ararat. Today, it is on the other side of the border –
unreachable. Turkey is afraid of territorial and retribution claims.

Do you want Ararat back?

Sargsyan: Nobody can take it away from us: Ararat is in our hearts. In
every Armenian home, in every corner of the world you will find the
image of Mount Ararat. I believe that the time will come when Ararat
instead of being the symbol of divide will become the symbol of
common understanding between our two nations. However, I would like
to clarify the following: no official in Armenia has ever presented
any territorial claims to Turkey. The Turks ascribe such claims to
us themselves, probably since they have a sense of guilt?

Der Spiegel: Your borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed; Iran
and Georgia are difficult neighbors. Won’t it be a better trade-off
to get a breakthrough in that isolation instead of quarrelling
indefinitely with Turkey about the Genocide?

Sargsyan: We don’t link the Genocide recognition to the opening
of borders. And it is not our fault that the rapprochement is not
getting through.

Der Spiegel: Turkey wants to link the opening of the border with the
progress in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution. The Armenians
held up in the war unleashed on that territory towards which Azerbaijan
have been laying claims since the break up of the Soviet Union.

Sargsyan: Turkey constantly wants us to make concessions, but it is
impossible. The most vital issue is the implementation by the people
of Nagorno Karabakh of its right to self-determination.

If Azerbaijan recognizes the independence of Nagorno Karabakh, I
believe the issue can be solved in a matter of hours. Unfortunately,
they still believe that they should bring Nagorno Karabakh back,
while returning Nagorno Karabakh back under the control of Azerbaijan
would mean that before long Nagorno Karabakh will be rid of all its
Armenian population.

Der Spiegel: What kind of solution would you propose?

Sargsyan: Why the republics of the former Yugoslavia had been able
to become independent? Why, then, should Nagorno Karabakh be denied
the same rights? Is it just because Azerbaijan has got some oil and
gas and a patron like Turkey? We cannot consider it fair.

Hurriyet, Turkey
April 2 2010

The way of `thinking big’ in foreign policy¦

Friday, April 2, 2010
HASAN CEMAL

News keeps coming in one item after the other. First, the Turkish
ambassador to Stockholm goes back to work. And then the Turkish
ambassador to Washington is expected to be back to United States soon.
Apparently, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an has had a change of
heart and will attend the Nuclear Security Summit under U.S. President
Barack Obama.

Are these bad? No, not at all. If the news is a sign of better
relations between Turkey and Armenia; Turkey and U.S., it cannot be
bad news. Why should they? Better relations serve to all parties.

What is wrong here is that indexing relations to the so-called
Armenian `genocide’ allegations and leaving them hostage to the
Karabakh conflict. Of course there are different ways of thinking at
this point. But that doesn’t mean that communication among these three
countries should be sacrificed. This is wrong.

Sides can have problems. And some cannot be solved immediately and
take time. The important thing is to prevent poisoning the relations.
This is what we should do. The normalization of Turkish-American or
Turkish-Armenian relations cannot be tied to the so-called `genocide’
issue. It is likewise for the Karabakh question. And let’s not forget
the Cyprus conflict.

Turkey over the years had a very narrow maneuvering space in Cyprus
and had troubles in national politics as well. Now, please let’s not
create a second one with the Karabakh question or a Rauf DenktaÅ?
problem again! I am not saying that neither Cyprus nor Karabakh is
important. All I am saying is that both Turkey and Azerbaijan, without
doubt, have their own legitimate reasons. But none should be allowed
to create a setback for relations with Armenia, the U.S. and
Azerbaijan.

In other words: None of these problems should be a monkey on Turkey’s
back. We had plenty of examples in the past. But now we have to learn
from our past experiences. Let’s not overlook this:

Turkey is standing on completely different ground today. Several
issues shouldn’t tie Turkey’s hands; a country with such a remarkable
growth and development and quite different national interests today.
In this perspective, governing bodies as well as the political
establishment in Turkey must `think big.’ Besides, there is, should
not be, no way but to be creative for Turkish diplomacy.

Let’s stop being wordy. It is wrong to index Turkish-American
relations or Turkish-Armenian normalization to the so-called genocide
issue and the Karabakh conflict. The common interests of these four
countries, including Azerbaijan, do not lie in nationalistic show-offs
but sound, normal relations.

As I’ve said, we can live with some issues and leave solutions to
time. But at the same time, we can bring relations back to normal or
have better ties. This is the right thing to do.

Turkish ambassadors to Stockholm and Washington going back to office
and ErdoÄ?an attending the summit are hopefully signs of this
normalization.

* Mr. Hasan Cemal is a columnist for the daily Milliyet in which this
piece appeared Friday. It was translated into English by the Daily
News staff.

NATO SECRETARY GENERAL TO VISIT SOUTH CAUCASUS REGION

ArmInfo
2010-04-02 10:46:00

ArmInfo-TURAN. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will visit
Azerbaijan during his visit to the South Caucasus and Central Asia,
the Romanian ambassador Nicolae Ureche told journalists on April 1.

According to him, the exact date of the visit is yet to be determined,
but it is scheduled for June-July this year. "Rasmussen will visit
countries of the region and meet with their political administration
to discuss cooperation with NATO and implementation of joint programs",
the ambassador said.

NKR MEDAL OF GRATITUDE TO LEVON TOROS

armradio.am
01.04.2010 14:10

On 31 March President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan
signed a decree awarding a "Gratitude" medal to Levon Toros, member
of the executive body of the "Friends of Armenia" ("Motherland Union")
organization from the USA, for participation in carrying out a number
of humanitarian projects in the NKR, Central Information Department
of the Office of the NKR President reported.

TURKISH ENVOY RETURNS TO SWEDEN TWO WEEKS AFTER ‘GENOCIDE’ VOTE

Agence France Presse
March 30, 2010 Tuesday 11:52 AM GMT

Turkey’s ambassador to Sweden flew back to her post Tuesday, some two
weeks after she was recalled over the Swedish parliament’s recognition
of an Armenian "genocide", the Anatolia news agency reported.

Speaking to reporters before her departure to Stockholm, Zergun
Koruturk said her return became possible after the Swedish government
distanced itself from the parliament’s decision.

"The Swedish government has clearly said that the decision would not
be put into practice," Koruturk was quoted by Anatolia as saying.

Ankara still expects Stockholm to take steps to "compensate for this
error," she said. "I hope the Swedish government will do everthing
in its power."

Ankara had announced last week that the ambassador would return to
Stockholm soon.

Koruturk was summoned back to Ankara on March 11 after the Swedish
parliament voted by a narrow margin to recognise the Ottoman massacres
of Armenians during World War I as genocide, despite the government’s
advice not to do so.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt later apologised to Ankara,
a move which his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called
"very positive".

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt also said that the position of his
government, which supports Turkey’s entry into the European Union,
"remains unchanged".

The Swedish vote came in the footsteps of a March 4 vote by a key US
Congress panel that branded the massacres as genocide, also prompting
Ankara to recall its ambassador there.

Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu indicated that
he was not yet ready to send his ambassador back to Washington as
the two cases were different.

"The Swedes clearly apologised," he said.

In a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton
at the weekend, Davutoglu urged the US admininstration to block the
bill, saying it was "critical" to bilateral ties.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed in systematic
massacres during World War I as the Ottoman Empire fell apart.

Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label and says between
300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks perished in
civil strife during the chaos of war.

ARMENIA, TURKEY PARTIES TO 1915 EVENTS, TURKISH PM STATES

news.am
April 1 2010
Armenia

Neither U.S. nor Sweden has any real interest in the events in the
Ottoman Empire in 1915, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
stated in the interview with a Turkish TV channel.

"Every year, they present Turkey with a fait accompli, and if it
is repeated year in and year out, we will have to admit that their
decisions are of no interest to us," stated Erdogan. According to him,
not a single piece of serious research on the events that occurred
in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century is available.

Thereafter, Erdogan asks himself what provokes these countries to
adopt decisions like that. "It is in the domestic interests of these
states. You are not the parties to 1915 events. They are Armenia and
Turkey," Erdogan said, referring to the countries recognizing the
Armenian Genocide.

YOUNG TURKS PLANNED TO ANNIHILATE THE ENTIRE ARMENIAN POPULATION, TURKISH HISTORIAN SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.04.2010 15:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A prominent Turkish historian told Taraf newspaper
in an interview published Wednesday that "the Young Turks planned to
annihilate the entire Armenian population."

Historian Selim Deringil said that there was also a distinction between
the aims of the Young Turks and their predecessor Sultan Abdul Hamid
at the turn of the 19th century. "The difference between Sultan
Abdul Hamid and the Young Turks was that the Young Turks wanted to
completely destroy and annihilate the Armenians, while Sultan Abdul
Hamid sought to get rid of a certain element of Armenians, to diminish
their economic dominance and to create and Islamic bourgeoisie,"
he said. "There were Armenians [living] everywhere [in Turkey]. The
massacre of Armenians took place in different cities. Today, the
official history states that in all the areas where people were
killed there were Armenians revolts; however, the majority of those
were not rebellions."

The historian said that 300 000 Armenian were massacred under Sultan
Adbul Hamid between 1841 and 1897 and 800 000 were murdered during
the Armenian Genocide.

He also referred to Turkish policy failures after the establishment
of the modern-day Republic. "At the onset of the Republic an estimated
300 000 Armenians lived in Turkey, while today that number has dwindled
to 70 000," he said.

"Annihilation does not only happen through killings," Derengil
claimed. "If you make life unbearable [for people] they will pick up
and leave."

Derengil also criticized Turkish historians, who "spend all of their
time trying to rationalize Turkey’s official denialist position on
the Genocide." "They work only to prove that Armenian assertions
are baseless."

"After World War I, there was plenty of evidence that demonstrated the
crimes, kidnapping and rape of Armenian women in Anatolia beginning
in 1915," Derengil concluded, Asbarez.com reported.

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.

THE UNITED STATES AND TURKEY

UNC Chapell Hill
103/spch/spch_usturkey.html
March 29 2010

In a recent speech at the Brookings Institution, Assistant Secretary
of State Philip Gordon highlighted the geopolitical importance of
the U.S.-Turkey security relationship in the early years of the 21st
century. An "engaged, active and cooperative relationship with Turkey,"
Gordon stated, "is an important interest of the United States."

Gordon actually understated the crucial importance of Turkey.

Geographically and culturally, Turkey straddles Europe and Asia,
abuts the energy-rich Caspian Sea region, and overlooks the turbulent
Middle East. Politically, Turkey, as Gordon noted, is a "secular,
democratic state that respects the rule of law" and is oriented
toward Europe and the West. In an era of Islamic extremism, Turkey,
with a majority Muslim population, shines as a beacon for moderate
Muslims in the Middle East and throughout the world.

Turkey, noted Gordon, is important to: (1) the stability of the Middle
East; (2) U.S. relations with the Islamic world; (3) U.S. relations
with the energy-rich Caspian Sea-Black Sea-Caucuses region; (4)
security and development in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan; and (5)
Europe and the continued vibrancy of the Atlantic Alliance.

Gordon characterized as unhelpful the recent resolution by the House
of Representatives condemning Turkey for the Armenian "genocide"
during World War I. Turkey, while not denying that Armenians were
massacred, objects to the massacres being classified as genocide.

What is most important, according to Gordon, is that Turkey, which
was a very important U.S. ally during the Cold War, remain oriented
toward, and a part of, the West.

SYRIA OFFERS TO HELP ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT

Monday Morning
le=7806&CategoryID=6
March 29 2010
Lebanon

"Syria is ready to play a role… for the establishment of
Turkish-Armenian relations that can ensure normal stability and
security in the region", Assad told a joint news conference with his
Armenian counterpart Serge Sarkissian in Damascus last week.

"I think… officials in Armenia have given us their full confidence,
which is why we are starting immediate steps, especially since
President Sarkissian encouraged us" to do so, he said.

Assad praised Yerevan’s decision to normalize its relations with
Turkey despite "many difficulties".

Sarkissian said his country supported "peaceful solutions and dialogue
to resolve the dispute… without questioning and forgetting its
history".

Long divided over the issue of mass killings of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire in World War I, Ankara and Yerevan signed an accord
in October to establish diplomatic ties and open their border. But
the process has hit snags, with both countries accusing each other
of lacking commitment to the accord.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin perished in a systematic
extermination campaign during World War I as the Ottoman Empire
fell apart.

Turkey counters between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least
as many Turks were killed in civil strife when Armenians rebelled
against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian forces.

RECONCILIATION WITH ARMENIA – TROUBLE FOR TURKEY: BAYKAL

news.am
March 29 2010
Armenia

Leader of the largest oppositional Republican People’s Party Deniz
Baykal again condemned authorities for initiating Kurdish issue
resolution and reconciliation with Armenia.

According to Turkish Zaman, Baykal emphasized it is incorrect to give
ethnical assessment to current issues adding that normalization with
Armenia is an incorrect move. "Yes, we are not enemies and know the
history’s tragedies, but do not cherish the hostilities. We were among
the states that recognized Armenia’s independence first. However after
Armenia occupied Karabakh, we blocked the border. And now, saying we
will reconcile with Armenia, we signed against Azerbaijan. And they
increased gas price, that is we paid for all this. These steps were
wrong of us, Kurdish issue resolution and relations’ normalization
with Armenia turned for us into trouble, putting Turkey a strain.

Deniz Baykal’s party constantly urges Turkish authorities to recall
Armenia-Turkey Protocols from the Parliament, presenting a statement
condemning the Protocols’ discussions.