Turkey has no moral right to impose any conditions on Armenia
Discussions on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide are not new in the political life of the United States of America, Armenian President said.
"Several times at least in the past 10 years, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives has tried to vote on the resolution," Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Euronews.
"Forty-two states in the US have recognized the events as Genocide, so the resolution vote on March 4 is neither a surprise nor a new thing for us," he said.
Asked whether he thinks of any particular reason for date of voting on the resolution in the context of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, President Sargsyan said, "We are currently in discussions with Turkey on the issue of re-establishing our relations. This should be done without any preconditions, and I think that Turkey has no moral right to blame us about anything or to impose any conditions. Re-establishing relations without preconditions means we are not under any obligations to stay away from any of the possible topics. Let's say that, by some miracle, the Turkish Parliament ratifies the protocols, the Armenian Parliament does the same, we re-establish our relations and a third country, which is against us re-establishing our relations, on purpose takes up the Genocide issue. Will the Turks, therefore, use this as a pretext and break off relations?"
Responding to a question whether Armenia's major problems - unemployment, economic isolation and long- running disputes with Turkey and Azerbaijan - can be more easily solved now, the Armenian President stated, "Our difficulties with Turkey did not begin yesterday. For 17 years, Turkey has kept the Armenian border under blockade. Was there such a resolution 17 years ago? We fully understand that Turkey is a big country in terms of population, territory and power vastly bigger than Armenia. And if we lived apart from each other we would [also] understand. But since Armenia and Turkey are part of the international community, and the United States, France and the European Union are too, then the international community must assess the developments and situations as they unfold."
As to the fact that Yerevan State University awarded an honorary degree to the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who denies the Armenian Genocide, President Sargsyan noted, "You know, we cannot oblige our neighbors to think as we do. One should not narrow things down to a single person. To bestow upon the leader of a country an honorific reward signifies an expression of gratitude and recognition towards the people of that country. The Iranians have been our neighbors for centuries and they are very important to us. I would consider it as a particular approach by the State University of Yerevan towards a particular issue, an approach quite current in Europe and in the democratically developed countries of the world."
"Several times at least in the past 10 years, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives has tried to vote on the resolution," Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Euronews.
"Forty-two states in the US have recognized the events as Genocide, so the resolution vote on March 4 is neither a surprise nor a new thing for us," he said.
Asked whether he thinks of any particular reason for date of voting on the resolution in the context of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, President Sargsyan said, "We are currently in discussions with Turkey on the issue of re-establishing our relations. This should be done without any preconditions, and I think that Turkey has no moral right to blame us about anything or to impose any conditions. Re-establishing relations without preconditions means we are not under any obligations to stay away from any of the possible topics. Let's say that, by some miracle, the Turkish Parliament ratifies the protocols, the Armenian Parliament does the same, we re-establish our relations and a third country, which is against us re-establishing our relations, on purpose takes up the Genocide issue. Will the Turks, therefore, use this as a pretext and break off relations?"
Responding to a question whether Armenia's major problems - unemployment, economic isolation and long- running disputes with Turkey and Azerbaijan - can be more easily solved now, the Armenian President stated, "Our difficulties with Turkey did not begin yesterday. For 17 years, Turkey has kept the Armenian border under blockade. Was there such a resolution 17 years ago? We fully understand that Turkey is a big country in terms of population, territory and power vastly bigger than Armenia. And if we lived apart from each other we would [also] understand. But since Armenia and Turkey are part of the international community, and the United States, France and the European Union are too, then the international community must assess the developments and situations as they unfold."
As to the fact that Yerevan State University awarded an honorary degree to the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who denies the Armenian Genocide, President Sargsyan noted, "You know, we cannot oblige our neighbors to think as we do. One should not narrow things down to a single person. To bestow upon the leader of a country an honorific reward signifies an expression of gratitude and recognition towards the people of that country. The Iranians have been our neighbors for centuries and they are very important to us. I would consider it as a particular approach by the State University of Yerevan towards a particular issue, an approach quite current in Europe and in the democratically developed countries of the world."
