Turkey not the country pressed by Genocide issue

February 18, 2010 - 18:20 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net -
Hopes of Armenian leadership that Turkey will have ratified Protocols by 24 April are illusory, since Turkey is not the country which can be pressed by the Armenian Genocide issue, Stepan Safaryan , head of the Heritage parliamentary group told a joint news conference with MP from the Republican Party of Armenia group Karen Avagyan in Yerevan.

According to Safaryan, the U.S. is very interested in success of Armenian-Turkish rapprochement. Turkey has made clear to the United States, if the pressure increases the Turkish side can opt out of the Armenia-Turkey rapprochement. According to him, Armenia shoud not hope, that U.S. by threatening Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide will compel them to ratify the Protocols. Moreover, the visit of the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to the U.S. and his meeting with Barack Obama have already been scheduled for April 14.

According to Karen Avagyan, if Turkey fails ratification of Armenia-Turkey Protocols, a new wave of Genocide recognition will start around the world.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.

The Armenian-Turkish Protocols

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.

Commenting on the CC ruling, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “it contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols.” ”The decision undermines the very reason for negotiating these Protocols as well as their fundamental objective. This approach cannot be accepted on our part. Turkey, in line with its accustomed allegiance to its international commitments, maintains its adherence to the primary provisions of these Protocols. We expect the same allegiance from the Armenian government,” the Ministry said.