Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 27 2007
Ankara to extend condolence to Armenia via Georgia
In the wake of the sudden death of Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan, Ankara is readying a letter of condolence that it will
send to Yerevan, with which it has no diplomatic relations, via the
Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
According to information obtained from diplomatic sources, Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan will send a note of condolence to
Armenian President Robert Kocharian. Ankara had not received an
invitation for Margaryan’s funeral when Today’s Zaman went to press.
The Armenian government was summoned to an emergency meeting by
President Kocharian following Margaryan’s death. According to the
Armenian Constitution the new prime minister will be determined in 10
days and the new government will be established in the following 20
days.
A commission has been formed for Margaryan’s funeral. The first
ceremony will be held on Tuesday (today), and after the civil
ceremony Margaryan’s body will be brought to the National Academic
Opera and Ballet House around noon. He will be interred at the
Komitas Pantheon cemetery.
His death is not expected to have any serious effect on the internal
politics of Armenia or to make any positive contribution to
Ankara-Yerevan relations. An expert in the field, Dr. Kamer Kasým,
recalled that Armenia had a presidential system and thus the prime
minister does not have a large effect on Armenian politics. The death
of Margaryan, who was also the leader of the Republican Party, will
not effect the parliamentary elections to be held on May 12, Kasým
noted, and named two of the candidates for the prime minister’s
office as Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan and Defense Minister Serj
Sarkissian.
Margaryan, who died following a heart attack on Sunday, was an
Armenian of Anatolian descent. In a statement he once made, he said,
`My family is from Muþ [a southeastern Turkish city]. My grandfather
was one of the leading figures of Muþ, Sekrak Margaryan. In fact,
almost all the members of our Ministerial Board are of Anatolian
descent. And half of them are from Muþ.’