September 11, 2009 - 21:22 AMT
Suren Surenyants: Turkey will sooner or later recognize Armenian Genocide
Turkey will sooner or later recognize Armenian Genocide, and that will be achieved through Armenian-Turkish dialogue, Republic party's board member Suren Surenyants told a news conference in Yerevan. Expressing disagreement with certain Protocol clauses, he particularly noted, "Some people say Protocols require Armenian side to step back from Genocide recognition process. Such statements are untrue."

With regard to Armenian-Turkish process being independent from Karabakh settlement the speaker said that "Any process taking place in Armenia will necessarily affect Karabakh issue."

If Turkey has ambitions for leadership, it mustn't have unresolved problems with other states. "See what happened to Russia. It lost its dominating position in Caucasus following Russian-Georgian conflict. Its influence on Caucasus diminishes by every day," he noted.

"Allegations that by signing Protocols Armenia recognizes Turkey's territorial integrity also sound absurd. If countries decided to enter into diplomatic relations, they must recognize each other's territorial integrity," Surenyants said, adding that Armenia already recognized Turkey's territorial integrity when joining NATO and OSCE.