Month: April 2010

ENVOY TO SWEDEN RETURNS, US CALLS FOR RETURN OF TURKEY’S AMBASSADOR

Today’s Zaman
March 31 2010
Turkey

As the Swedish government has clearly shown it will not accept
the resolution by Sweden’s parliament recognizing the World War I
killings of Armenians as genocide, it is time to return to Sweden,
Turkey’s ambassador to Sweden said in Ankara on Tuesday prior to
returning to Stockholm.

Zergun Koruturk returned to Sweden after the government decided
that the Swedish government had taken the necessary steps to assure
Turkey that it will not accept the non-binding resolution and that
the resolution was only "advisory" in character. Koruturk was recalled
to Turkey on March 11, minutes after Sweden’s parliament approved the
resolution branding the killings of Armenians in eastern Anatolia in
1915 as genocide. Turkey condemned the vote, recalling its ambassador
and cancelling a visit to Sweden by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan scheduled for March 17. Turkey said it signed reconciliation
protocols with Armenia, which also included the establishment of a
joint historical commission to investigate the events of 1915.

Turkey also emphasized that foreign parliaments should leave
assessments of Turkish history to historians and not judge it
themselves.

Speaking to reporters before leaving Ankara, Koruturk said recalling
ambassadors is a serious reaction, even a protest, in diplomacy.

Noting that the every step taken by the Swedish government following
the vote proved that it will by no means uphold the resolution and
will not accept the decision, Koruturk said the Swedish Constitution
leaves foreign policy decisions to governments and the resolution is
only "advisory."

"The Swedish government clearly conveyed that it will not implement
the decision," Koruturk said. The ambassador said many things have
changed since she returned to Turkey and summarized the steps the
Swedish government has taken to repair the damage caused by the
resolution. "The foreign ministers of Turkey and Sweden met in
Finland. Sweden said the decision was wrong, and the Swedish prime
minister called the Turkish prime minister to apologize. The Swedish
government has decreed since then that the decision was very wrong.

This has shaped the political will to send the ambassador back to
Sweden," Koruturk said.

Saying she has had the necessary consultations with Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu, Koruturk said her return is a political decision,
as was her recall. "There is the political will that I return. The
Swedish government’s attitude is important from now on. We will
see how they will make amends for this mistake. I hope the Swedish
government will do its best in this regard," Koruturk noted.

Asked why she visited the Kulu district of Konya during her time back
in Turkey, Koruturk said she went there to listen to the problems of
the people in the district. Many of the Turks living in Sweden have
relatives in the Kulu district.

Meanwhile, two senior US officials also expressed hopes that Turkish
Ambassador to the US Namık Tan, who was recalled to Turkey following
the passage of a non-binding resolution by the US House Committee on
Foreign Affairs on March 4 recognizing World War I-era killings of
Ottoman Armenians as genocide, would return to the US.

During a phone call on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu urged
his American counterpart, Hillary Clinton, to take the steps necessary
to block the advancement of the resolution to a full House vote.

"We understand the reasons why Turkey recalled its ambassador, and we
hope that the ambassador will be returned as quickly as Turkey feels
comfortable," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

In addition, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said the
Turkish side has made its concerns about the House committee vote
known while speaking at a press conference on Monday. "We’ve also made
clear our position on that resolution," he added. "So we hope that
this is the basis to move forward because we have a lot of business
to do together," Steinberg said.

On March 4, the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign
Affairs voted 23-22 to approve the non-binding resolution, clearing it
for consideration by the full House. Sweden’s parliament recognized
the Armenian "genocide" with a vote of 131 to 130 only a week after
the US committee’s vote.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MOST ARMENIANS OPPOSED TO TIES WITH TURKEY, POLL REVEALS

Today’s Zaman
March 31 2010
Turkey

Only about one-third of Armenians support reconciliation with Turkey
and the possible opening of the border between the two countries,
a recent poll has found.

The poll, conducted by the Armenian Marketing Association (AMA),
revealed that nearly 31 percent of respondents supported increased
diplomatic, civil society and other contacts between Armenia and
Turkey, the Armenian Service of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(RFE/RL), reported on Monday. Nearly an identical percentage of those
polled completely or largely opposed such contacts, with the remaining
40 percent either undecided or expressing no definite opinion.

Turkey and Armenia, which have had no formal links since 1993,
signed protocols last year to restore their ties and open their mutual
border. But the reconciliation process has come to a standstill after
the two countries accused each other of modifying the text of the
deals. It is not clear when the protocols will be ratified by the
parliaments of the two countries.

According to the AMA poll, reportedly the most comprehensive survey to
date of Armenian public opinion about the rapprochement with Turkey,
only 36 percent of respondents said the protocols signed in October
are good for Armenia. Most others were either undecided or said the
protocols favor only the Turkish side.

Asked whether the opening of the border would bring economic benefits
to Armenia, 41 percent of those polled agreed, while another 36 percent
were neutral on the topic or uncertain whether cross-border commerce
with Turkey would bring economic benefits.

The nongovernmental group interviewed some 2,500 randomly chosen
residents across the country in late January and February.

CALL FOR ARMENIAN ‘GENOCIDE’ RECOGNITION
By Amanda Cavill

Special Broadcasting Service
March 31 2010
Australia

A federal MP is urging Australia to formally use the term "genocide"
to describe the deaths and forced deportations of Armenians almost
a century ago.

The only federal politician of Armenian background is urging Australia
to formally use the term "genocide" to describe the deaths and forced
deportations of Armenians almost a century ago.

Such a move would be vehemently opposed by Turkey.

orld-view/episode/77862/Call-for-Armenian-genocide -recognition

STOP THE POLITICKING AND RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Taleen Khalafian

Sundial, California State University in Northridge
March 30 2010
CA

France has done it. Italy, Germany, and Switzerland have done it, too.

About twenty countries (and forty-two U.S. states) have officially
recognized the Armenian Genocide. Now, it’s time for the United States
government to step up and do the same.

Doing so will affect relations between the U.S. and Turkey and for this
reason, President Obama’s administration, including Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, is against the measure. The truth of the matter is,
though, justice and human values should take precedence over politics.

The genocide of 1915 sought to wipe out the Armenian culture with the
massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians. Women and children
were brutally raped, dehydrated, and starved while on death marches
led by the Ottoman Empire.

The term genocide is defined by Merriam-Webster as the "deliberate
and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural
group." By this legal definition, it is impossible to deny that the
mass-killings of 1915 were indeed intended to exterminate the Armenian
people altogether and was, therefore, a genocide.

Earlier this month, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed
House Resolution 232 which would officially label these massacres as
genocide. However, this is only the first step, and a baby step at
that. The measure has yet to go through Congress in April and win the
floor vote. And although President Obama promised to acknowledge the
genocide while on the campaign trail, he has recently discouraged
the passing of the resolution due to the U.S’s current alliance
with Turkey.

Clearly, it is all about the politics; while the President does not
deny that the genocide has occurred, he has noted that the timing of
the resolution is just not right, the alliance being too important
to the United States.

So, why should we care? This issue is not only in the best interests
of the Armenian people, it is a human rights issue. By passing this
resolution, we can gradually begin to put an end to genocides around
the world, such as the current situations in Congo and Sudan.

Adolf Hitler, influenced by the Armenian Genocide, was infamously
quoted to have said, "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation
of the Armenians?" By shining an international light on the genocide
of 1915, we will ultimately be saying, "This is not ok." Think of
what would happen, for example, if murderers and sex offenders were
brushed off and not convicted; crime rates would sky rocket and basic
human rights would go out the window.

Turning a blind eye to the mass killings of an entire nation is
morally wrong, no matter how significant the ties between the U.S. and
Turkey. The very fact that the Turkish government is adamantly denying
the genocide rather than accepting it as a part of history should
prompt the United States to do the right thing, even if it means
cutting off its political ties.

Do we really need an ally that, almost one hundred years later,
fails to accept the truth… even going so far as to recall its U.S.

ambassador upon the passing of House Resolution 232 and arrest any of
its citizens who claim the genocide occurred (while, interestingly,
that law is just the opposite in Switzerland and France, where it is
illegal to deny the genocide happened)?

Hopefully, our government will do the right thing by finally accepting
the Armenian genocide and facing any backlash with heads held high.

liticking-and-recognize-armenian-genocide/

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LOWRY’S ‘NUMBER THE STARS’ IN US, TURKEY POLITICAL STORM
By Rocco Staino

School Library Journal
March 30 2010

It looks like Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal-winning Number the Stars
(Houghton, 1989) may be caught in the middle of an international
storm between the United States and Turkey.

Lowry wrote in a blog post dated March 9 that she received a troubling
letter from a teacher at Turkey’s Tarsus American College, a private,
coed secondary school that offers an International Baccalaureate to
its international and Turkish students.

"Last week the inspectors from the Turkish Department of Education came
to our school and after reading one paragraph of your book, Number the
Stars, banned the book at our school," wrote Brenda Murphy Suffield,
adding that the book had been taught in English and Turkish at the
seven and eighth grade levels. "As an American I was appalled.

I would like to protest this banning. In my opinion, the pulling of
your book was the worst form of censorship."

Lowry’s novel is based on the true story of the little known evacuation
of Jews from Nazi-held Denmark to Sweden during World War II.

"I have checked the Internet to see if this book has been banned
anywhere else, and I could not find any information that supports
this banning by the Turkish Department of Education," Suffield goes
on to write, adding that school principal Sidika Albayrak dismissed
protests by teachers after the inspectors had left. "The inspectors
did not read your book, and they did not complete any kind of written
analysis where they cited objectionable parts. In my opinion, their
actions were capricious and unfounded."

Although the book has been banned from the Tarsus’s curriculum, as of
March 23, school librarian Sezin Ozkan says it’s still available in
the library collection. Ozkan, who was surprised by the government’s
action, has since ceased communication with this reporter.

Why would the Turkish government remove a modern classic that’s been
taught in many school curricula? Lowry wonders if it’s connected to
a recent move by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, which,
despite protests from Turkey and urgings from the Obama administration
not to offend its NATO ally, voted 23-22 to endorse a resolution on
March 4 declaring the Ottoman-era killing of Armenians as genocide.

The resolution now goes to the full House, where prospects for passage
are uncertain.

Minutes after the vote, Turkey, which plays a pivotal role for U.S.

interests in the Middle East and Afghanistan, recalled its ambassador,
Namik Tan, from Washington.

"Turkey is a largely Islamic country," says Lowry. "And although Number
the Stars espouses no religious or political view, it does tell a
true story of compassion toward persecuted Jews, and its unstated
theme is clearly that of integrity and humanity between people of
differing faiths. Perhaps that is a story that the Turkish government
does not currently want told to children."

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians and other
Christians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I,
an event widely viewed by scholars as the first modern genocide.

Armenian American groups have for decades sought congressional action
recognizing the massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire between
1915 and 1923 as genocide, and some 20 countries officially recognize
it as fact. But Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire,
says the numbers were inflated and those killed were victims of
civil war and unrest. In fact, Turkish penal code 301 forbids anyone
insulting Turkey or mentioning Armenian genocide.

Award-winning author Lois Lowry’s ‘Number the Stars’ is involved in
a political storm between the U.S. and Turkey.

International writers groups are also equally disturbed as Lowry by
the book banning. "While books claiming an Armenian genocide have
been subject to lawsuits in Turkey under Article 301 of the penal
code, to my knowledge, this article does not apply to issues around
the Holocaust, nor is there any other legislation that would apply,"
a bewildered, Sarah Whyatt, program director of International PEN,
which along with the PEN American Center, are investigating the
reasons behind the book’s withdrawal. Both organizations defend
freedom of expression.

When contacted by SLJ via email, several teachers at Tarsus American
College say they were instructed not to discuss the situation, and
the director of the lower school, Charles Hanna, has not responded
to numerous emails.

However, a member of the faculty at the American Collegiate Institute
in Izmir, a sister school to Tarsus, tried to explain the lack of
communication. "The school board does keep very tight reins on the
teachers, especially Turkish nationals, so they will not offer much
information."

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara and the House of Representative’s Committee
on Foreign Affairs did not return emails. The Turkish Embassy in
Washington said it would forward the matter to its education department
back home.

Still, Lowry is disappointed that her book has become embroiled in
such a highly charged political matter.

"My reaction to the banning is a great sadness for a beautiful country,
one I have visited myself," she says. "I remember standing once among
the ruins of the library at Ephesus–one of the largest libraries of
the ancient world–in awe of the history surrounding me.

What a tragedy, that in modern Turkey, literature and literary freedom
cannot be honored as it once was."

dex.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_ header_id=6647810&articleid=ca6724509

ARMENIANS WILL COMPLAIN ABOUT TURKEY

Hurriyet
March 30 2010
Turkey

The Armenian people get up each morning thinking of genocide, talking
about Turkey during the day and watch news on TV about Erdogan before
going to bed. Of course, I am exaggerating but I see the same things
here in Armenia that I used to experience in Greece.

Previously when I came to Armenia people would talk about genocide
but not this much. During the Soviet term a struggle for genocide was
forbidden. People would argue about it but it wouldn’t be carried as
far as a fight with Turkey. With the dispersion of the Soviet Union
and the independence of Armenia this passion increased. Since my last
visit in 2000 everything has gotten out of control.

Today’s passion is best described by Dr. Hovanisyan of the Yerevan
University:

"For us genocide is the start of a history, being kicked out of heaven
meant starting from scratch, a milestone. It is our collective memory.

As long as Turkey does not accept genocide no relationship can be put
on track. Accept it and forget about it, there is no other way. That
way we’d stop playing a mutual game."

Genocide is a passion now.

Ignoring genocide means ignoring the Armenian presence, people started
to believe something as unrealistic as "fire won’t burn."

You might guess how big an excitement and political argument emerged
in respect to the signed protocols in such an environment. In Turkey
this subject remained within the frame of the opposition-administration
fight. The border lines of this argument have expanded. Here it has
created an effect as if a dynamite exploded.

Sarkisian is in a difficult situation, Erdogan is being questioned

President Sarkisian took on a great risk in political respect when
he gave a green light to the protocols. For, according to some,
he made a historic mistake in respect to genocide.

"Do you know what it means to sent the genocide issue before the
historians commission? It means to reopen an issue which we made
the world accept and to create suspicion as to whether it was right
or wrong which would mean destroying a work done over the past 100
years," says the Armenian expert.

He also says, "Historians won’t be able to agree on a mutual decision.

One will say there has been genocide committed. The other will say
no there hasn’t. Our opportunity to make Turkey accept or have the
parliament approve of it will be destroyed."

Hovanisyan’s reply to the question what would Armenia’s answer be
in case Turkey would want to apply to the The Hague’s International
Court of Justice together with Armenia was the following:

"Why would I go to the International Court of Justice? I am not
after anything. What would I want to prove? Genocide is for real,
why would I want to argue over it?"

Now this is the suspicion part of Armenians and part of the diaspora
seriously carries. That is the reason why Sarkisian is in a difficult
position.

If the protocols are not approved Turkey experiences a loss in
different ways. I.e. it will lose the opportunity to freeze genocide
allegations or put them on hold.

Erdogan has a strange reputation here.

On one side they praise him for his brave steps and applaud him as
a leader who started initiatives no one else could. They believe if
one day a solution is to be found Erdogan will find it. Especially
the Armenian community in Turkey for the first time praises Erdogan
as a Turkish Prime Minister.

On the other side he is criticized for being a leader who allies with
the Armenians and would deport illegal Armenian workers which revives
in them previous exile days. And even attempts of a gesture like
apologizing to the leaders of the Armenian community in Istanbul or
opening the Armenian church on the island of Akdamar for worshipping
once a year did not satisfy people. I met people saying, "What does
opening the church for worship once a year mean? It’s like a donation.

If you want to do some good then keep it constantly open…"

Like an academic said in respect to Erdogan, "Can’t live with him,
can’t live without him."

We can’t wait for too long

The Armenians are about to attack in a diplomatic way.

"We will knock on the doors of those who were standing behind our two
ministers of foreign affairs and applauding while they were signing
the protocols to ask them to make Turkey comply with its signature,"
says an upper level official. He continued saying that the first step
will be taken in April in Washington with President Obama and others
will follow because they are not willing to wait for months. He also
said, "As we wait, the Azerbaijanis will become stiffer in respect to
Karabag. And since they have leaned their backs on Turkey, negotiations
are becoming a drag."

So, do we know what will happen in case the protocols are approved
and borders opened? Will the Armenian become richer? What will happen?

I will talk about it tomorrow.

U.S.-TURKEY POLICY, A NATIONAL DISGRACE: TURKEY’S U.S. PAID FOREIGN AGENTS
By Gene Rossides

Hellenic News of America
March 30 2010

U.S.-Turkey policy, in general, is a national disgrace. It involves
several issues: Turkey�s Cyprus invasion and occupation; Turkey�s
threats in the Aegean and violation of Greek airspace; the lack of
religious freedom in Turkey; religious desecration and cleansing by
Turkey in Cyprus; the lack of human and political rights for Turkey�s
20% Kurdish minority, and more.

It also involves Turkey�s paid U.S. agents of influence registered
as foreign agents with the Department of Justice under the Foreign
Agents Registration Act. Turkey has spent millions of dollars annually
on U.S. lobbyists since at least 1980 to get benefits from the U.S.

Congress and Executive Branch and to lobby against passage of the
Armenian Genocide resolution.

Currently on Turkey�s payroll are two former leaders of the House of
Representatives, Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and Dennis Hastert (R-IL). In my
view their acceptance of employment as U.S. foreign agents for Turkey
is a stain on the House of Representatives and a national disgrace for
the U.S. because they have agreed (1) to deny the Armenian Genocide,
(2) to support Turkey�s illegal invasion and occupation of 37%
of Cyprus in violation of the rule of law and the UN Charter;
(3) to support Turkey�s threats against Greece in the Aegean and
violation of Greece�s airspace; (4) to deny religious freedom for
the Eastern Orthodox Christians in Turkey, the protection of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate and the reopening of the Halki Theological
School; (5) to deny Turkey�s 20% Kurdish minority full human and
political rights, and much more.

Dick Gephardt

In 2007, Dick Gephardt, a leading Democrat, who had been a strong
supporter of the Armenian Genocide resolution, when he was in
Congress, sold out and changed his views for $1,800,000 from the
Turkish government.

Since 2007, for millions of dollars annually Gephardt has been the
mouthpiece in the U.S. for Turkey�s denial of the Armenian Genocide
against the near unanimous views of genocide scholars and the broader
academic community. Denying the Armenian Genocide is equivalent to
denying Nazi Germany�s Holocaust against the Jews.

In 1989, he was elected by the Democrats in the House to the number 2
spot as majority Leader. In 1994 he was elected by the House Democrats
as their Leader. The Democrats were in the minority in the House that
year and he was referred to as Minority Leader.

Dennis Hastert

In 1999, Dennis Hastert became Speaker of the House of
Representatives. The Speaker is the third highest elected official in
the U.S. and is third in line to the presidency. He served 4 terms
as Speaker and resigned from Congress in November 2007. Hastert was
first elected in 1986 to the House.

Hastert is noted for his reversal of position on the Armenian Genocide
resolution H. Res. 596 in October of 2000. As Speaker he was supporting
passage of H.Res 596, but in an about-face he withdrew H.Res 596,
introduced by Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA), from the Congressional
docket just 5 minutes before it was due to be considered on the
House floor.

Hastert�s flimsy excuse was that he did it because of a letter from
President Clinton citing national security concerns and implications
of the legislation.

In his subsequent terms as Speaker Hastert became the main obstacle
to getting the Armenian Genocide resolution to the House floor and
became a key apologist for Turkey.

In 2008, shortly after leaving office, Hastert began working as a U.S.

foreign agent for Turkey through the Dickstein Shapiro firm which
is working as a subcontractor under an agreement with the Gephardt
Government Affairs organization.

Gephardt and Hastert join the list of U.S. foreign agents selling
out to Turkey.

Legislation to counter Turkey

I suggest that Members of the House of Representatives can reverse
the damage done to the House by Gephardt, Hastert and others, by
introducing and passing legislation that would prohibit aid of any
kind to any country that hires former Members of the House as U.S.

foreign agents and further would withdraw any and all benefits that
such country presently receives or enjoys from the U.S. Members of
the House should also refuse to talk to any former Members registered
as U.S. foreign agents.

Call and write to your Representative

Call and write to your Representative and (1) ask them to support the
legislation mentioned above; (2) urge them not to speak to U.S. paid
foreign agents registered with the Justice Department; and (3) urge
them to support the Armenian Genocide Resolution H. Res. 252 which
passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 4, by a vote
of 23-22 and urge the leadership of both parties to bring it to the
floor of the House for an up and down vote!

Please remember that the failure of our Congress to pass the Armenian
Genocide resolution would encourage the genocide perpetrators like
the president of Sudan who is currently under criminal indictment.

Gene Rossides is founder of the American Hellenic Institute and former
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury

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RADIOLOGY AND INTERVENTIONAL NEUROLOGY CENTER OPENS

Aysor
March 31 2010
Armenia

Today, the Radiology and Interventional Neurology Center has opened in
Armenian capital city of Yerevan. The ceremony of opening was attended
by county’s President Serzh Sargsyan, high-ranked officials, Armenian
General Benevolent Union’s President Berge Setrakian, and other guests.

"The center is the only one in Armenia," said Rector of the Yerevan
State Medical Institute (YSMU) Mrs. Goar Kalian. "The center is a
unique place, where thanks to progressive equipment it’s possible to
determine correct diagnosing of various vascular disorders and make
other diagnosis, reducing the risk of insult " she said.

The center hosted guests and introduced the center’s conditions,
equipment, and staff.

The center’s opening took place thanks to activities by the YSMU, with
sponsoring support by Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), which
has contributed to the center’s establishing over three years. AGBU
has provided the project with $1,7 million; Nazar Nazarian and his
wife Artemisa Nazarian donated to the center.

By the decision of the Academic Council of the YSMU, the Yerevan
Radiology and Interventional Neurology Center will be named after
American physician radiologist of Armenian origin Levon Nazarian.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BEDROS CIRINOGLU IS ERDOGAN’S CLOSE FRIEND, SAYS SHAQARIAN

Aysor
March 31 2010
Armenia

A meeting between Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Bedros Cirinoglu had a key goal to show that Ankara is holding dialogue
with Armenian Community of Turkey, said at today’s press conference
a turkologist Artak Shaqarian.

"Turkey’s authorities are wishing for demonstration of no-problems
between Armenians and Turks, to show a dialogue with Armenian
Community; while Bedros Cirinoglu had assumed responsibility
for incorrect figures of Armenians, living in Turkey," said Artak
Shaqarian, referring to recent incident, when Turkish Prime Minister
had threatened to expel 100,000 Armenians from Turkey, and Bedros
Cirinoglu said it was him who’d gave wrong figures to Erdogan
(actually, there are much less Armenian migrants in Turkey – nearly
14,000, experts say.)

Bedros Cirinoglu is a close friend to Erdogan, and the meeting was just
"a nice step," pointed turkologist.

"Erdogan tried to come out with clean hands, as his threats to expel
Armenians caused a reaction of the international community as well
reaction of Turkish society; Besides, Cirinoglu is not a leader of
Armenian Community of Turkey, as he is introduced. For more than 6
centuries, since 1400, the Armenian Community’s leader is Armenian
Patriarch," pointed Shaqarian, adding that formally late Hrant Dink
was considered as leader of Armenians in Turkey — Dink expressed
views of community and defended their rights.

"After Hrant Dink was killed, there is not a person in Turkey, who
could carry responsibility for leadership," added Artak Shaqarian.

ARMENIA PURSUES COHERENT AND CONSTRUCTIVE POLICY: RPA

news.am
March 31 2010
Armenia

In Armenia-Turkey normalization the failure of the process is most
acceptable to Armenia, and it is crucial that the process be killed
by the Turkish side, Stepan Safaryan, the Heritage parliamentary
faction leader, told a March 31 press conference.

According to him, Turkey does its best for Armenia to kill the
process. "Turkish Prime Minister’s provocative statements on possible
deportation of illegal Armenian immigrants are aimed at making Armenia
kill the normalization process," Safaryan said.

As a second scenario of the reconciliation, Safaryan pointed out
freezing of the process, with both Armenia and Turkey being uncertain
about it. "In this regard, Turkey is pressurized, which results in
the adoption of resolutions recognizing Armenian Genocide by different
states’ Parliaments," he said.

On the other hand, according to Safaryan, Armenia-Turkey relations
are more likely to succeed than the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

The member of Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Karen Avagyan said
the international community exerts pressure on Turkey due to a clear
and realistic policy pursued by RA President Serzh Sargsyan.

"Armenia pursues a coherent and constructive foreign policy and the
adoption of Armenian Genocide resolutions by parliaments of different
countries is evidence thereof," Avagyan concluded.