Ankara will turn protocols into subject of gambling –expert

September 27, 2011 - 13:25 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ankara will try to drag out ratification of Armenian-Turkish protocols till 2015, 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide, according to a political analyst at European Integration NGO.

“The protocols will be turned into a subject of gambling,” Manvel Ghumashyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

The expert had low expectations as to the possibility for re-inclusion of Armenian-Turkish protocols on Turkey’s parliament agenda to normalize ties. “Armenia-Turkey rapprochement will depend on the response of international community and regional developments,” the expert said.

Turkey’s Council of Ministers returned Armenian-Turkish protocols on parliament agenda, as a “gesture of good will to Armenia”. In late August, Turkey’s Grand National Assembly withdrew 898 bills, including the Armenian-Turkish protocols signed in 2009, from the agenda. At the time, Turkish parliament considered that the issue of opening of border with Armenia is no longer actual for the country’s political course.

The Armenian Genocide

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.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.