Itar- Tass, Russia
March 6 2010
Turkish PM says US Congress vote on `Armenian genocide’ was comedy
06.03.2010, 20.32
ANKARA, March 6 (Itar-Tass) — Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
said Saturday’s vote in the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on
a resolution recognising the fact of `Armenian genocide’ during the
Ottoman Empire was a comedy.
`The scenario that was played out turned out to be a comedy. The
country will not put up with the lie that is being forced upon it,’ he
said.
Erdogan said Turkey could not accept `such parody’ and described the
initiators of the vote as shortsighted.
The adoption of the resolution forced Ankara to recall its ambassador
to Washington for consultations. He said upon arrival in Ankara that
the vote had been wrong from the very beginning.
The diplomat did not say when he planned to return to the United
States, adding that this would depend on his consultations and the
decisions to be made by the government.
The issue of Armenian genocide has tarnished relations between Turkey
and Armenia for decades and is one of the stumbling blocks to their
improvement. Another problem is Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said the normalisation of
relations with Turkey was not conditioned on the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and recognition of the Armenian genocide in
the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
Sargsyan said the text of the protocols on the normalisation of
relations between Armenia and Turkey did not mention Karabakh or the
word `genocide’.
He said Yerevan would seek to resolve the Karabakh issue in accordance
with the aspirations of the Armenian population of the disputed
enclave.
The president also said that Armenia would not give up attempts to
secure international recognition of genocide.
At the same time, he believes that these issues should not be an
obstacle to the normalisation of relations between Yerevan and Ankara.
He expressed hope that a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh issue
would be achieved, but did not name any deadlines.
According to Sargsyan, this may happen in a distant future.
The first step towards normalisation of bilateral relations, fully
severed in 1993 over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, was taken in the
autumn of 2008. Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan at the
invitation Sargsyan to watch a World Cup qualification game between
the national football teams of the two countries. He invited Sargsyan
to Ankara to a football game in October. Observers dubbed the visits
`football diplomacy’, and although some politicians say such informal
meeting between the leaders of the two countries should not be taken
seriously, experts believe that these contacts can play an important
role in the normalisation of relations between the two countries.
Sargyasn said that Armenia was ready to establish normal relations
with Turkey without preconditions. `The ball is in the Turkish court,’
he said.
He is `deeply and sincerely convinced’ that Armenia `must establish
good relations with Turkey’, and this conviction did not develop after
his election as president.
Sargsyan believes that `such experienced diplomacy as the Turkish one
will assess the degree of sincerity’ of Armenian authorities in the
establishment of relations with Ankara without preconditions.
The president said talks with Turkey had `never discussed the problem
of Nagorno-Karabakh and the recognition of Armenian genocide’ in the
Ottoman Empire in 1915. `We do not condition normalisation of
relations between the two countries on Turkey’s recognition of
Armenian genocide and hope that the Turks do not consider the
termination of recognition of genocide [by different countries] as
such precondition’, he said.
At the same time, normalisation of relations with Turkey does not mean
questioning the fact of genocide in 1915, the president said. `We
regret millions of innocent victims and should do everything we can to
prevent such tragedies in the future,’ Sargsyan said.
`We may have made a mistake in our relations with Turkey’, and they
will take a totally different turn, Sargsayan said. But `even if it is
a failure’, Armenia will `come out of this process stronger because
the international community will see’ that Yerevan `is ready to
establish relations with Turkey without preconditions’.
Erdogan said earlier that his country would not open its border with
Armenia until its troops leave occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
`The Karabakh conflict and the occupation of Azerbaijani territories
are the cause, and the closure of the border with Turkey is the
effect. Unless the cause is eliminated, the effects will remain,’
Erdogan said.
Erdogan said the Turkish-Armenian border would not be opened unless
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem was resolved.
`Turkey will not sign the final agreement with Armenia unless
Azerbaijan and Armenia reach consensus on Nagorno-Karabakh,’ he said.
`We will prepare the infrastructure and do preliminary work, but this
[the opening of the border] will depend entirely on the settlement of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani problem. It has to be settled first,’ the
prime minister said.
Erdogan said his country had not and would not take steps that would
be detrimental to the national interests of Azerbaijan.
Ankara believes that the issue may be resolved only within the
framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, he said.
`Unless the Karabakh conflict is resolved, no peace in the region will
be possible,’ the prime minister said.
`Independence, calm and stability of Azerbaijan are as important to us
as independence and stability of Turkey,’ Erdogan said.