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THE POLITICS OF TIGHT-ROPE WALKING

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  • THE POLITICS OF TIGHT-ROPE WALKING

    THE POLITICS OF TIGHT-ROPE WALKING

    http://www.lragir.am/src/index.php?id=com ments&pid=14937
    12:58:57 - 17/08/2009

    When Armenia engaged in its football diplomacy and invited Mr Gul to
    attend that match in Yerevan , a beautiful red , ripened and juicy
    apple fell in Turkey`s hands to flaunt it to the world as a token
    of goodwill in its dealings with its neighbours and a proof of its
    readiness for democracy and its worthiness for membership of the
    European Union.

    That visit became the God-sent occasion for Mr Gul to receive President
    Obama in an apparently "clean house" , where all spiders webs , dirty
    linen , boarded windows and locked cupboards full of skeletons had
    been expertly hidden and out of public sight - as housekeepers often
    do before the visit of an important guest .

    Mr Obama , with a broad smile , praised Mr Gul for attending that
    match , assigned to his host the responsibility to deal with what he
    labelled "the Medz Yeghern" and called for Turkey and Armenia to go
    forward in friendship and cooperation .

    In retrospective , Mr Gul " had to be praised" for he needed great
    courage to visit the very country whose borders he has closed because
    of a third country`s claims , whose genocide , committed by his
    ancestors , he denies and whose usurped land he occupies . Great
    courage , impunity and unsensitivity .

    The Authorities in Armenia , concerned only to better the situation for
    the Armenian people, engaged in their football diplomacy genuinely
    believing what had been promised to them and had become already
    the subject of worldwide speculation : the opening of its borders
    " without any precondition" . Speculation which should have been
    replaced - worldwide- by the prosecution of Turkey for violation of
    Human Rights in keeping closed the borders with a neighbour country.

    It is interesting to note that up to President Obama`s visit , Mr Gul`s
    friend , Mr Aliyev, kept silent and obeyed the order of the day : " do
    not rock the boat".Turkey became the darling of Europe and although not
    a full member of the Union, even assigned itself as its representative
    and offered to act as a goodwill negotiator between the West and Iran .

    I attended a meeting organised by the British-Iranian Parliamentary
    Group on 28th April 2009 in Committee Room 5 of the House of Commons
    ( British Parliament) ,entitled : Briefing by His Excellency Mehmet
    Yigit Alpogan Turkish Ambassador to the Court of St James`s on : "The
    Turkey-Iran Relationship; is Ankara key to the West`s engagement with
    Iran?" where 17 Members of the British Parliament and a large number
    of the Turkish Ambassador`s entourage attended , exchanging smiles and
    congratulation , but where - although this meeting had been organised
    to address an issue concerning Iran - not even one Iranian was to be
    seen. It was blatantly evident that this was a meeting to be kept "
    in the family" !

    The international media reported that Turkey was emerging as the Major
    Power in the Caucasus , millions of dollars poured in to help Turkey
    in its "exercise of democracy" and ,world-wide , Armenians believed
    and hoped that the barbed wires at the borders would be cut , that the
    barriers would be removed and that diplomatic relations will resume .

    The football diplomacy was working in full for Mr Gul and was bearing
    results beyond his imagination and wildest expectations.

    President Obama returned home, Mrs Clinton dictated a new Agreement ,
    the Major Powers , hastily , drew a Map which would protect their
    " oil and gas routes" and Mr Aliyev received the green light to
    "rock the boat now" and insist on the Karabagh issue to become the
    precondition for opening the borders.

    A tight rope ( very tight indeed ) had been woven .

    Can and will anyone walk on it .. and not fall?
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