ARMENIA-TURKEY PROTOCOLS SEVERELY CRITICIZED AT HOME
Hurriyet Daily News
Sept 1 2009
Turkey
Members of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, and
Republican People’s Party, or CHP, voice their unhappiness with the
government’s move to restore diplomatic relations with Armenia
Photo is an archive image.
Turkey’s opposition parties have reacted harshly to a joint statement
saying that two protocols will be inked in six weeks to restore
diplomatic relations and improve bilateral relations with Armenia.
Even if the government signs the protocols, it is impossible to
implement them without parliamentary ratification.
Republican People’s Party, or CHP, vice president and retired
ambassador Onur Oymen said Armenia has not sufficiently changed its
policy nor implemented the necessary pre-conditions to allow such a
reconciliation. "Does Armenia officially confirm that it will withdraw
from Nagorno-Karabakh?" he asked Tuesday.
"Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan assured in a speech at
the Azerbaijani parliament that the Turkey-Armenia border would
not be opened until the Karabakh conflict is solved," Oymen said,
referring to the longstanding territorial dispute between Turkey’s
neighbors. "However, now you even declare a timetable for opening
the border. How can you convince the Azerbaijanis?"
Saying that Turkey does whatever the United States asks, even at the
cost of losing its credibility and reliability, Oymen added: "It is
incoherent politics and harms the reliability of the country. Armenia
has promised nothing in response to this protocol and so what Turkey
does will be a one-sided concession."
Deniz BölukbaÅ~_ı, a retired ambassador and deputy from the
Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, also severely criticized the
government policy. "These protocols are like a red carpet to welcome
[Armenian President Serge] Sarkisian, who reiterated his intention
not to come to Turkey until a move was made to open the border,"
BölukbaÅ~_Ä 1; said in an interview with Hurriyet’s Web site.
Noting that the contents of the protocols do not meet Turkey’s
expectations, the MHP representative added: "Armenian constitutional
law considers eastern Turkey as part of Armenian land. There is
no item in the protocols to confirm that Armenia has given up this
approach. Armenia neither promises to withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh
nor to resolve the problems with Turkey. So it is a one-sided step."