ANCC released a statement on protocols between Turkey and Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) issued a statement in regard to the protocols between Turkey and Armenia. The full text of the statement, sent to PanARMENIAN.Net particularly says:



On August 31st, 2009, the foreign ministers of Armenia, Turkey and Switzerland issued a joint

announcement outlining the protocols that will guide the establishment and development of relations between Turkey and Armenia. The Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) would like to express its serious concerns regarding this recent development. The ANCC finds the content of the Protocols unacceptable, because of the concessions made therein, which seriously threaten the interests, rights, safety and future of the Republic of Armenia and of the

Armenian people in general.



The Protocols are clearly the result of ongoing pressure exerted on Armenia to make concessions as preconditions to opening the border between Armenia and Turkey and to establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.



In particular, the Protocols call the two countries to create a "sub-commission on the historical dimension to implement a dialogue with the aim to restore mutual confidence between the two nations, including an impartial scientific examination of the historical records and archives to define existing problems and formulate recommendations…" The ANCC believes that this will be used by Turkey to cast doubt on the historical record of the Armenian Genocide. The word Genocide is in fact absent from the Protocols. By doing so, there is a tendency to find a political solution to this crime against humanity, to ignore the legal basis for the recognition on the international level and to promote a solution that serves the political interests of Turkey. Moreover, the undertaking by Turkey of a genuine dialogue is questionable, given the current denialist policy that the Government of Turkey is pursuing. Within its borders, it is carrying out the legal prosecution of those who dare discuss the Armenian Genocide (Under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, making it illegal to insult Turkey, the Turkish ethnicity, or Turkish government institutions). On the international level, it continues the worldwide campaign of the denial of the Armenian Genocide including the lobbying among other places, in the U.S Congress and the Canadian Parliament at great expense. Furthermore, the Protocols' language regarding mutual recognition of existing borders, non-intervention, territorial integrity and inviolability of frontiers may also be used by Turkey to preclude the reparations in regard to legitimate claims based on international law, as well as to counter and distort current negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.



ANCC believes that there should not be any such pre-conditions to the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of the border. Normal and neighbourly relations between Armenia and Turkey can only be based on Turkey's acceptance of the Armenian Genocide, and on a true and just resolution of this crime. Attaching such pre-conditions to the establishment of diplomatic relations and to the opening of the border demonstrates a clear lack of good faith on the part of Turkey in choosing a path that leads to true neighbourly relations.



On behalf of the Armenian community of Canada, the ANCC wishes to express opposition to these developments. Developments that ignore the rights of the Armenian nation as a whole, which are based on historical facts and international law.



"This announcement was imminent and we should not consider it as a surprising move, given the April 22, 2009 announcement of a provisional roadmap. The protocols issued on August 31st are vague and unbalanced, in favour of Turkey. It proves that there is a lack of commitment to establish a permanent peace between the two nations and a desire to hinder work toward the worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide." said the president of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, Dr. Girair Basmadjian.



The ANCC favours the normalization of the ties between Armenia and Turkey but without sacrificing the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the rights of the Armenian people. As Canadians where our Senate in 2002, our House of Commons in 2004 and our Government in 2006 have recognized the Armenian Genocide, we feel insulted: these Protocols ignore the recognitions taken in Canada as well as in other countries throughout the world and promote the campaign that is aimed at hindering similar future decisions of recognition. The ANCC encourages the Canadian Government to urge the Turkish Government to face up to and come to terms with its own history by recognizing the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Young Turks on the eve of the demise of the Ottoman Empire.