Turkish wedge in the Armenian reality
Representatives of the Armenian Diaspora find it important for Yerevan to know that the Armenians of France repudiate any agreement, achieved at the expense of national interests of the Armenian people.
The Armenian-Turkish agreement on the road map, in the final analysis, could be promulgated after April 24, at least out of respect for the memory of one-and-a-half million Armenians tortured and killed in the Syrian deserts and another half a million, scattered throughout the world. After all, this is not even an agreement, but simply a memorandum on mutual understanding, that could be signed at any time within the framework of "football diplomacy" between September 6, 2008 and October 2009, when the reciprocal match Turkey - Armenia would take place.
However, since the document contains no word about preconditions, Turkey decided to at least snatch a piece of imaginary victory - the date of proclamation, thus putting Armenia and the Diaspora on the verge of separation. And in a few years no one will ever remember what was there in the agreement, the most important factor is that it was signed a day before April 24
According to independent French journalist Jean Eckiyan, Armenians express their deepest concern over the statement of the Armenian and Turkish MFAs. "This statement is undesirable for the following reasons: first, it is made on the threshold of April 24, when throughout the world Armenians remember the Armenian Genocide and second, it can force Armenia to make certain concessions in the question of recognition of the Genocide and the regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
Representatives of the Armenian Diaspora consider that official Yerevan, participating in such "doubtful and dangerous negotiations", should know that the Armenians of France, together with other Diaspora communities, repudiate any agreement, achieved at the expense of national interests of the Armenian people.
Hardly can any government of Armenia sign a document, analogous to the Kars agreement, which will now be discussed below.
The text contains no mention whatever of preconditions laid by Turkey, namely: renunciation of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and acknowledgement of the boundaries of present-day Turkey, i.e. ratification of the Kars agreement signed in 1921. And if the first two clauses are not so important for Turkey, signing of the Kars agreement is so much necessary to Ankara that it is ready to give up everything, and the Karabakh issue in particular, which, in the essence, has been only hindering Turkey for the last 15 years. It is appropriate to recall that Baku is now in a very nervous state, quite close to panic. But this is, in the essence, their problem.
However, as far as the Kars agreement is concerned, it expired in 1946, which we have already written about. Actually, therefore the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Vyacheslav Molotov in 1951 stated that the USSR had no territorial claims to Turkey, "forgetting", that the agreement was already void. Consequently, the Kars Province, that was part of the Russian Empire, was to automatically return to Russia, i.e. to the Soviet Union. However, the Cold War started and Turkey should have been neutralized and flattered, and we got what we have now: an extremely dangerous neighbor, which is eager to, at any cost, legally consolidate its borders.
It is probably necessary to remind that the Armenian-Turkish negotiations have been conducted in Switzerland since 2007. Only they have livened up recently, especially in connection with the growing instability in Georgia. Russia, USA and Europe are all interested in the normalization.
In a word, everything was leading to the fact that sooner or later a document had to be signed. Even the date was assumed - April 16, when FM of Turkey Ali Babacan was to arrive in Yerevan. However, no document was signed in Yerevan, though judging by some information leakages from government sources, the preliminary version of agreement was made.
The road map between Armenia and Turkey is only a preliminary document. It is not yet elaborated and we do not know what its final version will be like. The agreement is apparently called to confirm that the Turkish-Armenian negotiations go normally; however, it is not less obvious that not all the disputable matters are finally settled.
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
According to independent French journalist Jean Eckiyan, Armenians express their deepest concern over the statement of the Armenian and Turkish MFAs. "This statement is undesirable for the following reasons: first, it is made on the threshold of April 24, when throughout the world Armenians remember the Armenian Genocide and second, it can force Armenia to make certain concessions in the question of recognition of the Genocide and the regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."
Representatives of the Armenian Diaspora consider that official Yerevan, participating in such "doubtful and dangerous negotiations", should know that the Armenians of France, together with other Diaspora communities, repudiate any agreement, achieved at the expense of national interests of the Armenian people.
Hardly can any government of Armenia sign a document, analogous to the Kars agreement, which will now be discussed below.
The text contains no mention whatever of preconditions laid by Turkey, namely: renunciation of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and acknowledgement of the boundaries of present-day Turkey, i.e. ratification of the Kars agreement signed in 1921. And if the first two clauses are not so important for Turkey, signing of the Kars agreement is so much necessary to Ankara that it is ready to give up everything, and the Karabakh issue in particular, which, in the essence, has been only hindering Turkey for the last 15 years. It is appropriate to recall that Baku is now in a very nervous state, quite close to panic. But this is, in the essence, their problem.
However, as far as the Kars agreement is concerned, it expired in 1946, which we have already written about. Actually, therefore the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Vyacheslav Molotov in 1951 stated that the USSR had no territorial claims to Turkey, "forgetting", that the agreement was already void. Consequently, the Kars Province, that was part of the Russian Empire, was to automatically return to Russia, i.e. to the Soviet Union. However, the Cold War started and Turkey should have been neutralized and flattered, and we got what we have now: an extremely dangerous neighbor, which is eager to, at any cost, legally consolidate its borders.
It is probably necessary to remind that the Armenian-Turkish negotiations have been conducted in Switzerland since 2007. Only they have livened up recently, especially in connection with the growing instability in Georgia. Russia, USA and Europe are all interested in the normalization.
In a word, everything was leading to the fact that sooner or later a document had to be signed. Even the date was assumed - April 16, when FM of Turkey Ali Babacan was to arrive in Yerevan. However, no document was signed in Yerevan, though judging by some information leakages from government sources, the preliminary version of agreement was made.
The road map between Armenia and Turkey is only a preliminary document. It is not yet elaborated and we do not know what its final version will be like. The agreement is apparently called to confirm that the Turkish-Armenian negotiations go normally; however, it is not less obvious that not all the disputable matters are finally settled.
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
