Gagik Melikyan: RA CC decision produced cold shower effect on Turkish authorities

PanARMENIAN.Net - RA Constitutional Court's decision produced a cold shower effect on many circles, including the Turkish authorities, which have always sought to impose preconditions upon Armenia, said Gagik Melikyan, MP from the Republican Party of Armenia.



"By its decision, Armenia's Constitutional Court proved that Protocols contain no precondition and are aimed at establishing diplomatic ties and opening border between Armenia and Turkey," he told a news conference organized jointly with ARFD group parliamentarian Artsvik Minasyan.



"Even if RA CC had found Protocols non-conformable to Armenia's Constitution, Turkey would have accused Armenia of protracting the ratification process," Gagik Melikyan said, adding that Ankara signed Protocols under international community's pressure and cannot avoid fulfilling its obligations.



At that, he noted that Armenia will never sign the Kars Treaty or renounce the international recognition of Armenian Genocide.



"Turkish authorities will not force us into renouncing our Constitution," he stressed.



The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks held through Swiss mediation.

On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country's Organic Law.



The Treaty of Kars was singed on October 13, 1923 between Turkey and Transcaucasian republics. It consisted of a preamble, 20 articles and 3 appendices.



The treaty was a successor treaty to the earlier Treaty of Moscow of March 1921 and established contemporary borders between Turkey and the South Caucasus states. It was signed in Kars on October 13, 1921 and ratified in Yerevan on September 11, 1922.



Most of the territories ceded to Turkey in the treaty were acquired by Imperial Russia from the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. The only exception was the Surmalu region which was annexed by Russia in the Treaty of Turkmenchay after the last Russo-Persian War with Iran.



The treaty provided for the territory of the former Russian Batum District of the Kutaisi Governorate to be divided. The northern half, with the port city of Batumi, was ceded by Turkey to the Soviet Union. The southern half, with the city of Artvin, would be annexed by Turkey. It was agreed that the northern half would be granted autonomy within Soviet Georgia. It eventually evolved into the Adjar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (today Adjara). Additionally, Turkey was also guaranteed a "free transit through the port of Batum for commodities and all materials destined for, or originating in, Turkey, without customs duties and charges, and with the right for Turkey to utilize the port of Batum without special charges."



The treaty also created a new boundary between Turkey and Soviet Armenia, defined by the Akhurian and Aras Rivers. Turkey obtained from Armenia most of the former Kars Oblast of Russian Empire. The treaty required Turkish troops to withdraw from an area roughly corresponding to the western half of Armenia's present-dayShirak Province (including Alexandropol (Gyumri).



The document specified that the region of Nakhchivan (a territory comprising the Nakhchivan and Sharur part of Sharur-Daralagez uyezds of former Erivan Governorate of Russian Empire) was an autonomous territory under the protection of Azerbaijan. In 1924, Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed on this territory as an exclave subordinate to Azerbaijan SSR, and sharing a 15-km boundary with now Turkish district of Surmalu. [1] It was also agreed that both Turkey and Russia would become guarantors of Nakhchivan's status



The Republican Party of Armenia is a national conservative political party in Armenia. It was the first political party in independent Armenia to be founded (2 April 1990) and registered (14 May 1991). It is the largest party of the centre-right in Armenia, and claims to have 140,000 members. The party controls most government bodies in Armenia.

At the 2003 parliamentary elections on May 25, the party received 23.5% of the popular vote, winning 31 out of 131 seats. At the last parliamentary elections on May 12, 2007, the party received 33.91% of the popular vote, winning 64 out of 131 seats. The former prime minister, Andranik Markaryan, was the leader of the party. Current President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, is the chairman of RPA board.