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ARMENIA CRITICIZES EU, NATO OVER TURKISH BLOCKADE
By Michael Stott and Margarita Antidze, Reuters
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
July 7 2007
Armenia criticized NATO and the European Union on Friday for turning
a blind eye to Turkey's long-running blockade of its borders, saying
Ankara's refusal to open land routes was costing the small, landlocked
state a third of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
"Europeans are shy over these issues. They love to talk about human
rights, about democratic values but it's much easier to talk rather
than to implement anything," Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian told
Reuters in an interview.
Turkey shut its borders to Christian Armenia in 1993 to protest against
the capture by Armenian forces of territory inside Azerbaijan, Ankara's
historic Muslim ally, during fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region
Ankara says it will not reopen its frontier until Armenia reaches a
peace agreement with Azerbaijan.
The blockade, coupled with similar measures by Azerbaijan, means
Armenia has to route its trade through its land border with Georgia,
or over treacherous mountain passes that link it to Iran. Those
difficulties greatly increase costs.
Sarkisian said Armenia wanted to resume relations with Turkey without
preconditions and would not obstruct Turkey's desire to join the EU
because this might make Ankara "more predictable".
"Although NATO officials tell us that Turkey is predictable as it's a
member of NATO, I don't believe it because even before our blockade
Turkey was a member of NATO when it occupied Cyprus," the prime
minister added.
Armenia and Turkey have a long history of enmity, arising from the
killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman empire in
1915-17. Armenians and some European nations describe the deaths as
genocide. Turkey says they were part of a partisan conflict during
World War One. It is a crime in Turkey to refer to the killings as
a genocide.
Sarkisian, tipped by analysts as a likely future president of Armenia,
said Armenia still needed help from its strategic ally Moscow to defend
itself. Russia has 5,000 troops stationed here. "I do not think that
the Turkish threat has disappeared and our Russian military base is
a guarantee against the Turkish threat," he added.
Sarkisian also said that if Western nations granted independence to
the Serbian province of Kosovo, they "could not fail to recognize"
the right of the majority Armenian territory of Nagorno-Karabakh
to self-determination.
"I see the solution of this issue based on compromise but I do not
see any steps or reactions from the Azeri side," Sarkisian said. "We
have done all we can".
Asked about his own political ambitions, Sarkisian said it was "likely"
he would be the presidential candidate of Armenia's ruling Republican
party, although a final decision would not come until a party congress
in the autumn.
Armenia holds presidential elections next year and incumbent President
Robert Kocharian cannot stand after serving two terms. The elections
that gave Kocharian his second term in 2003 were marred by allegations
of ballot-stuffing although international monitors deemed this year's
parliamentary elections -- won by Sarkisian's party -- an improvement.
By Michael Stott and Margarita Antidze, Reuters
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
July 7 2007
Armenia criticized NATO and the European Union on Friday for turning
a blind eye to Turkey's long-running blockade of its borders, saying
Ankara's refusal to open land routes was costing the small, landlocked
state a third of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
"Europeans are shy over these issues. They love to talk about human
rights, about democratic values but it's much easier to talk rather
than to implement anything," Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian told
Reuters in an interview.
Turkey shut its borders to Christian Armenia in 1993 to protest against
the capture by Armenian forces of territory inside Azerbaijan, Ankara's
historic Muslim ally, during fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region
Ankara says it will not reopen its frontier until Armenia reaches a
peace agreement with Azerbaijan.
The blockade, coupled with similar measures by Azerbaijan, means
Armenia has to route its trade through its land border with Georgia,
or over treacherous mountain passes that link it to Iran. Those
difficulties greatly increase costs.
Sarkisian said Armenia wanted to resume relations with Turkey without
preconditions and would not obstruct Turkey's desire to join the EU
because this might make Ankara "more predictable".
"Although NATO officials tell us that Turkey is predictable as it's a
member of NATO, I don't believe it because even before our blockade
Turkey was a member of NATO when it occupied Cyprus," the prime
minister added.
Armenia and Turkey have a long history of enmity, arising from the
killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman empire in
1915-17. Armenians and some European nations describe the deaths as
genocide. Turkey says they were part of a partisan conflict during
World War One. It is a crime in Turkey to refer to the killings as
a genocide.
Sarkisian, tipped by analysts as a likely future president of Armenia,
said Armenia still needed help from its strategic ally Moscow to defend
itself. Russia has 5,000 troops stationed here. "I do not think that
the Turkish threat has disappeared and our Russian military base is
a guarantee against the Turkish threat," he added.
Sarkisian also said that if Western nations granted independence to
the Serbian province of Kosovo, they "could not fail to recognize"
the right of the majority Armenian territory of Nagorno-Karabakh
to self-determination.
"I see the solution of this issue based on compromise but I do not
see any steps or reactions from the Azeri side," Sarkisian said. "We
have done all we can".
Asked about his own political ambitions, Sarkisian said it was "likely"
he would be the presidential candidate of Armenia's ruling Republican
party, although a final decision would not come until a party congress
in the autumn.
Armenia holds presidential elections next year and incumbent President
Robert Kocharian cannot stand after serving two terms. The elections
that gave Kocharian his second term in 2003 were marred by allegations
of ballot-stuffing although international monitors deemed this year's
parliamentary elections -- won by Sarkisian's party -- an improvement.