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ARMENIA DEFENDS DECISION TO REFUSE VISAS TO TURKISH ELECTION OBSERVERS
AP Worldstream
Published: May 09, 2007
Armenia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday defended its decision to deny
visas to Turkish election observers, a move that was criticized by
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Turkey had sought to include eight observers in the OSCE mission to
monitor Armenia's parliamentary elections Saturday.
"Turkey is continuing to keep the border with Armenia closed and
has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetian said. "In these conditions,
their proposal to send observers appears somewhat strange."
On Monday, the director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights, Christian Strohal, expressed concern
about the visa refusal.
"An invitation to observe elections is an invitation to all OSCE
participating states," Strohal said. "Preventing some observers
from participating contradicts the principles of transparency and
objectivity which are an indispensable aspect of democratic elections."
"We understand the concern of the OSCE member countries ... but we
also hope the OSCE member countries will expect Turkey to fulfill
its obligation to establish normal friendly relations with Armenia,"
Karapetian said.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in the 1990s in protest of the
war in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan now under the control
of Armenian and ethnic Armenian Karabakh forces. Tensions also persist
between the countries over the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenians in
the last years of the Ottoman empire, which Armenia wants recognized
as genocide.
AP Worldstream
Published: May 09, 2007
Armenia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday defended its decision to deny
visas to Turkish election observers, a move that was criticized by
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Turkey had sought to include eight observers in the OSCE mission to
monitor Armenia's parliamentary elections Saturday.
"Turkey is continuing to keep the border with Armenia closed and
has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Vladimir Karapetian said. "In these conditions,
their proposal to send observers appears somewhat strange."
On Monday, the director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights, Christian Strohal, expressed concern
about the visa refusal.
"An invitation to observe elections is an invitation to all OSCE
participating states," Strohal said. "Preventing some observers
from participating contradicts the principles of transparency and
objectivity which are an indispensable aspect of democratic elections."
"We understand the concern of the OSCE member countries ... but we
also hope the OSCE member countries will expect Turkey to fulfill
its obligation to establish normal friendly relations with Armenia,"
Karapetian said.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in the 1990s in protest of the
war in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan now under the control
of Armenian and ethnic Armenian Karabakh forces. Tensions also persist
between the countries over the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenians in
the last years of the Ottoman empire, which Armenia wants recognized
as genocide.