TURKISH FM: TURKEY, ARMENIA STILL HAVE FAR TO GO
By Suzan Fraser
AP
01 Sept 09
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey and Armenia are at the beginning of a "long
process" toward normalizing relations, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu said Tuesday, suggesting the issue surrounding the massacres
of Armenians 90 years ago remains tricky.
Armenia and Turkey, bitter foes for a century, took a major step toward
reconciliation late Tuesday, announcing they were launching final
talks aimed at establishing diplomatic ties. The Swiss-mediated talks
were expected to last six weeks, the sides said in a joint statement.
Turkey is under intense pressure from its ally the United States,
and the European Union, which it hopes to join, to improve ties
with Armenia.
President Barack Obama, visiting Turkey in April, called on his hosts
to come to terms with the past, resolve its dispute with Armenia and
reopen the border.
The move comes weeks before Turkey and Armenia’s soccer teams are to
meet in a World Cup qualifier. Turkey’s president attended the first
game in Yerevan in April, but Armenia’s President Serge Sarkisian
said he would not travel to the Oct. 14 match in Turkey until progress
was made on reopening the border.
"It would be an embarrassment if the Armenian president does not come,"
said Bulent Aliriza, of the Washington-based Center for Strategic
and International Studies. "With this process they are able to find
a way for him to attend."
The protocols to be signed by the two countries say Turkey and Armenia
agree to open the border within two months after they formally come
into force.
One of the biggest disputes is over the World War I-era massacre of
up to 1.5 million Armenians in the last days of the Ottoman Empire,
which many historians regard as the first genocide of the 20th
century. Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, contending
the toll is inflated and those killed were victims of civil war.
In a minor victory for Turkey, the protocols say the countries will
agree to "implement dialogue on the historical dimension with the aim
to restore mutual confidence." Turkey has pressed for an independent
committee of historians to determine whether the deaths were genocide.
The two countries will engage in an "impartial scientific examination
of historical records and archives," according to the documents.
"It is a long process," Davutoglu said told Turkey’s NTV television on
a visit to northern Cyprus. "But every long process has a beginning."
Foreign Policy analyst Semih Idiz said the committee allows the two
side to improve ties without being stymied by the genocide issue.
"The sides are not changing their stance on the genocide issue — they
are isolating the issue so that they may proceed with establishing
ties without letting it interfere in the process," Idiz said.
=0 AThe parliaments of both countries must ratify a deal on diplomatic
normalization. In Turkey, suspicion about Armenian intentions runs
particularly high.
Turkey’s prime minister has also linked normalization to resolution
of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azeri region occupied by
Armenian troops.
Turks have close cultural and linguistic relations with Azerbaijan,
which is pressing Turkey for help in recovering its land.
Azerbaijan on Tuesday made clear it opposed the opening of the border
through a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.
"The position of our country is based on announcements of Turkish
leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan," who "said on May 14 that the border
will open only after the complete liberation of occupied Azerbaijani
territories," Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov
told The Associated Press.
"The Turkish premier announced that Ankara will not back down from
this position by a single step and will not make any moves in that
direction without the approval of Azerbaijan," he said.
Turkey’s two main opposition parties blasted the agreement.
"They are making unilateral concessions," said Onur Oymen, deputy
head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party. "That border
was to be opened on condition that (Armenia) withdraw from Azeri
territories. There is no sign of that. This is shameful!" he said.
"This allows Turkey to lay the red carpet so that the president of
Azerbaijan, who swears at=2 0Turkey at every occasion, can watch a
soccer game," said a nationalist party official, Deniz Bolukbasi.
Davutoglu said Turkey would safeguard Azerbaijan’s interests throughout
the reconciliation process.
"If all parties show goodwill the Nagorno-Karabakh issue can be
resolved. We believe this can be achieved," he said, pointing at
recent progress in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan mediated by
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Both the United States and the EU welcomed the thaw in relations.
Davutoglu said the rapprochement with Yerevan is part of Turkey’s
wider policy of "zero problems" with neighbors. Turkey has gradually
improved ties with longtime foes and neighbors including Greece,
Syria and Bulgaria.
Turkey is seeking to enhance its image as a regional statesman and
an ally of world powers in a strategic and often unstable region.
It is also trying to resolve a long-running feud with its Kurdish
minority — an issue vital to Turkish efforts to earn membership in
the European Union.
Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia’s
independence in 1991, but the two countries never established
diplomatic relations and their joint border has been closed since 1993.
Associated Press writers Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, Aida
Sultanova in Baku, Azerbaijan and Josef Federman in Jerusalem
contributed to this report.