SUMMING UP THE YEAR: CRRF, "EASTERN PARTNERSHIP" AND ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS
Karine Ter-Sahakyan
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
29.12.2009 GMT+04:00
Yerevan does everything or almost everything in her power to neutralize
the negative impact of Turkey on international community concerning
the Armenian question.
In the sphere of foreign policy of Armenia the year of 2009 was
an ordinary year with mandatory and unexpected events, the most
important of them being perhaps the signing of the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols on normalizing relations and opening the Armenian-Turkish
border. This issue by itself deserves a separate discussion, which we
were actually engaged in for most of the year. But, understandably,
foreign policy of the country is not limited to these protocols only.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In February Armenia, together with other states of
the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), signed an agreement
on the creation of collective rapid reaction forces (CRRF), which would
join efforts to fight against terrorism and drug trafficking, as well
as respond to another state’s attack on a CSTO member state. Signing
of the agreement on CRRF naturally led to another inappropriate
response from official Baku, which, however, was foiled by rather a
harsh statement of President Dmitry Medvedev, who confirmed that any
form of aggression against CSTO member states would be regarded as
an attack on the entire organization with all its consequences.
The agreement on establishing collective rapid reaction forces
was signed on February 4, and on May 7 Prague hosted a summit to
launch, initiated by the European Commission, the project "Eastern
Partnership", designed to boost the European Union’s relations with
six former Soviet countries: Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine,
Moldova and Belarus. The program provides for visa facilitation with
the EU, establishment of deep and comprehensive free trade areas,
and EU assistance to the countries signing the initiative.
In early February, a resolution on recognition of the Armenian Genocide
was once again introduced in the 111th U.S. Congress. Sponsor of the
resolution was Congressman Adam Schiff. In 2008 a similar resolution
Number 106 was approved by U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
Foreign Affairs, but the administration of President George W. Bush
blocked the vote. The current Resolution 252 may have a greater chance
of success. But, alas, it depends on how the Turkish authorities will
behave in the US-Turkish relations.
On April 23 the text of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols on normalization
of relations between the two countries was made public.
Why they were released on this very day became clear on April 24, when
President Barack Obama in his annual address to the Armenian community
in U.S. once again avoided the term "genocide" with reference to the
Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923. And that he used
the Armenian version of the word genocide "Metz Yeghern", the essence
of the address did not change; Obama, like previous U.S. presidents
could not or did not want to "insult" Turkey, an important ally in
the Iraqi war. Be that as it may, the publicized Protocols and Obama’s
address did their job – Diaspora became more rigorous in their demands
to recognize the Armenian Genocide and to reject any proposed condition
on the part of Turkey. Ankara, understandably, sighed with relief
for a while and even tried to play her own game in the settlement of
the Karabakh conflict, but, of course, she failed. The latest visit
of the Turkish Prime Minister to the United States brought Erdogan
nothing but disappointment, and if we add to this also the tension
in the Israeli-Turkish relations, it becomes obvious that Turkey
finished the year not so successfully. Our great attention to the
neighboring country is due to the fact that in most cases she becomes
the factor that determines, though indirectly, the foreign policy of
Armenia. That is, Armenia does everything or almost everything in her
power to neutralize the negative impact of Turkey on international
community concerning the Armenian question. And if we also add to
this Azerbaijan, which lately coordinates all her steps with Turkey,
it turns out that Armenia alone resists half of the Turkic world.
On October 10 the Armenian-Turkish Protocols were signed in Zurich,
after which another anti-Armenian fit of hysteria immediately broke out
in Baku, followed by President Aliyev’s statements on the "military
settlement of the Karabakh conflict". The world community is already
sick and tired of such statements and this was the reason that it
did not even pull up President Aliyev…
On October 14, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan paid a courtesy
visit to Bursa for a football match between the national teams of
Turkey and Armenia.
Over the past year Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh
Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev met five times. None of these meetings were
productive, except for Baku being warned against waving fists and a
policy of threats and blackmail. That’s all. The USA changed its OSCE
Minsk Group co-chair: Matthew Bryza was replaced by Robert Bradtke.
However, it did not result in great changes, except for the fact that
the number of "inappropriate" statements from the U.S. side decreased.
In short, the year of 2009 was a regular year. Most of the events
were predictable, and the fact that they occurred just now and not
yesterday or at any other time, once again confirms the well-known
truth that whatever is done is for the better . Even if at first
glance, everything is very bad.