RAFFI HOVANNISIAN: ARMENIA’S POLICY OF "NO PRECONDITIONS" HAS FAILED
18-raffi-hovannisian-armenia-s-policy-of–no-preco nditions–has-failed
Thursday March 18, 2010
Raffi Hovannisian speaking at Georgetown on March 1. PF-Armenia photo
Washington – The policy of not setting preconditions for establishment
of relations with Turkey embraced by three presidents of Armenia
has proved to be a failure, a leading Armenian opposition figure and
former foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian told The Armenian Reporter.
Mr. Hovannisian said that what he thought was "a measured and
considered approach" when the policy was first introduced in his time
as foreign minister in 1991-2, 18 years later has failed to deliver
results for Armenia.
Mr. Hovannisian spoke to The Reporter after delivering a keynote
speech at a conference on Armenia-Diaspora relations organized by
Policy Forum Armenia at Georgetown University on March 1-2.
"It is possible that we were wrong that that [policy] might be the
way to resolve the issues," Mr. Hovannisian, adding that there was
a need to develop a new policy towards Turkey.
"No" to protocols Mr. Hovannisian reiterated his strong criticism
of the protocols that the Armenian government signed with Turkey
last October.
The government "is in a state of effective resignation from the
[Armenians’] right to homeland, to Armenia’s territorial integrity
as defined de-jure," Mr. Hovannisian said in a reference to a clause
in Armenia’s Declaration of Independence that commits the republic to
pursuing international recognition of the Genocide in Western Armenia.
Should protocols ever come to ratification in the Armenian parliament,
Mr. Hovannisian believes that there will be widespread opposition in
Armenia, including from elements inside the ruling establishment.
Armenia’s president Serge Sargsyan has argued that the protocols
were in line with the "policy of no-preconditions." At the same
time, suspicious of Turkey’s intentions, the Armenian president made
Armenia’s ratification of protocols conditional on Turkey ratifying
them first.
Moreover, Mr. Sargsyan has warned that he would rescind Armenia’s
signature from the agreement should Turkey continues to stall.
Although he gave no concrete timeframe, commentators have speculated
the next April 24 will become an effective deadline.
Turkish leaders have refused to ratify the protocols unless Armenia
commits to a study that would question the facts of the Armenian
Genocide while also agreeing with Azerbaijan on basic principles of
settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
A long-standing policy Speaking at Georgetown, Mr. Hovannisian noted
that even before the Armenian military success in Karabakh, Turkey
refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia.
Moreover, in early 1992 Turkey threatened to veto Armenia’s membership
in the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE,
now OSCE) unless Armenia endorsed the 1921 Treaty of Kars, which
established the current Turkish-Armenian frontier and absolved parties
from war crimes committed during and after World War I.
Mr. Hovannisian recalled that under U.S. pressure, Turkey at the
time dropped the veto threat, opening the way for Armenia’s CSCE
membership. But Ankara refused to establish diplomatic relations with
Yerevan unless its pre-conditions were fulfilled.
In April 1993, in response to Armenian advances in the Karabakh war,
Turkey suspended ground and air communications with Armenia and
threatened to intervene militarily on Azerbaijani side.
While a direct Turkish intervention did not come – as Russia also
threatened to get involved – and restrictions on air travel were
lifted in the mid-1990s, Turkey continues to advance pre-conditions
for a full normalization of its relations with Armenia.