Heritage outraged over joint Turkish-Armenian statement

PanARMENIAN.Net - Joint statement issued by Turkish and Armenian MFAs and Swiss Foreign Affairs Department dated Apr. 22 specifies that Armenia and Turkey came to an agreement over a range of issues concerning normalization of bilateral relations on a level acceptable to both parties".



According to Heritage, it was not the parties who reached "considerable progress" and "mutual understanding" specified in the agreement, but rather Armenian and Turkish authorities, as by "parties" Heritage means communities of both countries as well as descendants of genocide victims dispersed throughout the world. Armenian authorities were not given powers or a vote of confidence to sign the document, and abusing the principle of secrecy threatened Armenia's national interests.



Heritage still insists that at this decisive moment signing a joint document of "mutual understanding" would be justified only if Turkey expressed regret over atrocious pages of its history, acknowledged itself responsible for the Armenian genocide, refused Genocide negation policy, agreed to normalize diplomatic ties without preconditions, and lifted the blockade of Armenia.



According to Heritage statement, as Turkey did not undertake the steps above, position taken by Armenia, can lead to irreversible losses from the point of view of national interests. Both previous and current administrations and political forces participating in the process will be responsible for this.



Heritage demands for immediate publication of route map contents which "stipulate for normalization of bilateral relations on the level acceptable to both parties"





There are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey. Armenian -Turkish border has been closed since 1993 on the initiative of official Ankara.