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Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Sept 14 2008
Armenia May Recognize Turkey's Borders
Sunday , 14 September 2008
BY Sedat Laçiner
Notwithstanding all risks, President Abdullah Gul's visit to Armenia
ended as a success story in all aspects. Turkey reiterated and proved
its peaceful stance and give positive signals to Armenia. Sarkisyan
accepted Turkey's invitation and this may be seen as the first
consequence of the visit. And of course there will be reciprocal
visits of lower level officials. Especially, the Armenian side does
not seem to wait until the next match for paying these visits. They
are planning an extensional diplomatic action towards Turkey. As we
know, Ankara is already waiting for such move that improving relations
with Armenia is the primary objective of the AKP government.
Armenia faced with a huge economic burden especially after the
Russia-Georgia conflict through destruction of its railroads and
highways. More important than that this conflict ceased Armenian ties
with the rest of the world. Armenia acknowledged that its dependence
to Georgia to connect rest of the world is no longer
sustainable. Dependence to unstable Georgia means the risk of
disruption of the everyday life order in Armenia at eruption of a new
conflict in the area. Armenia may even collapse without an Azerbaijani
attack because of its collapsed economy via ceased exports and imports
which are crucial for the sustenance of everyday life. An Azerbaijani
attack in these circumstances probably ends the existence of
Armenia. Even though the Russia sends help to Armenia it may find
nothing to save or just save a country that is gone 15 year backwards.
Under these circumstances the primary objective for Armenia is to open
a new line for its lifeblood. This is why Sarkisyan named their first
goal as `re-opening the Kars-Gümrü railroad' before
Gul's visit. However, Armenian recognition of Turkish borders is a
precondition of improvement of Armenia-Turkish relations. Armenia
cannot expect normalizations of the relations before recognizing its
neighbor's borders. Moreover, it cannot turn the page with the
meaningless discourse of `we do not have any preconditions for
beginning the talks with Turkey.' Turkey expects Armenia to omit the
`West Armenia' phrase from its declaration of independence document
which is also a part of its constitution. Or instead Turkey at least
expects a formal declaration from Armenia that indicates its
recognition and respect for Turkish borders. In my opinion Turkey may
get this recognition in a short time period because Armenian officials
were saying that there is no problem about this issue and they are
using this only as a bargaining chip. I hope the Armenian side has
seen that this is not putting Armenia in a stronger position in
negotiations instead ceasing the communication with Turkey.
In short, the first expectation for rapprochement is Armenian
recognition of Turkish borders. Opening borders for trade will
probably take more time. The airlines are open to flights anyway and
if Turkey opens the railroad and highway lines too that means
bestowing all Armenia wants altogether. This will give a position to
Armenia that is even better than Azerbaijan even. Armenia will be able
to connect the world economically through three alternative countries
of Georgia, Iran and Turkey, whereas Azerbaijan can connect to world
just through Georgia (partially through Iran). This is a huge reward
for Armenia and there is a long list of tasks to deserve that. The
first and foremost item of the list is Karabakh and other territories
under Armenian occupation.
14 September 2008
Translated by Mehmet Yegin
Sept 14 2008
Armenia May Recognize Turkey's Borders
Sunday , 14 September 2008
BY Sedat Laçiner
Notwithstanding all risks, President Abdullah Gul's visit to Armenia
ended as a success story in all aspects. Turkey reiterated and proved
its peaceful stance and give positive signals to Armenia. Sarkisyan
accepted Turkey's invitation and this may be seen as the first
consequence of the visit. And of course there will be reciprocal
visits of lower level officials. Especially, the Armenian side does
not seem to wait until the next match for paying these visits. They
are planning an extensional diplomatic action towards Turkey. As we
know, Ankara is already waiting for such move that improving relations
with Armenia is the primary objective of the AKP government.
Armenia faced with a huge economic burden especially after the
Russia-Georgia conflict through destruction of its railroads and
highways. More important than that this conflict ceased Armenian ties
with the rest of the world. Armenia acknowledged that its dependence
to Georgia to connect rest of the world is no longer
sustainable. Dependence to unstable Georgia means the risk of
disruption of the everyday life order in Armenia at eruption of a new
conflict in the area. Armenia may even collapse without an Azerbaijani
attack because of its collapsed economy via ceased exports and imports
which are crucial for the sustenance of everyday life. An Azerbaijani
attack in these circumstances probably ends the existence of
Armenia. Even though the Russia sends help to Armenia it may find
nothing to save or just save a country that is gone 15 year backwards.
Under these circumstances the primary objective for Armenia is to open
a new line for its lifeblood. This is why Sarkisyan named their first
goal as `re-opening the Kars-Gümrü railroad' before
Gul's visit. However, Armenian recognition of Turkish borders is a
precondition of improvement of Armenia-Turkish relations. Armenia
cannot expect normalizations of the relations before recognizing its
neighbor's borders. Moreover, it cannot turn the page with the
meaningless discourse of `we do not have any preconditions for
beginning the talks with Turkey.' Turkey expects Armenia to omit the
`West Armenia' phrase from its declaration of independence document
which is also a part of its constitution. Or instead Turkey at least
expects a formal declaration from Armenia that indicates its
recognition and respect for Turkish borders. In my opinion Turkey may
get this recognition in a short time period because Armenian officials
were saying that there is no problem about this issue and they are
using this only as a bargaining chip. I hope the Armenian side has
seen that this is not putting Armenia in a stronger position in
negotiations instead ceasing the communication with Turkey.
In short, the first expectation for rapprochement is Armenian
recognition of Turkish borders. Opening borders for trade will
probably take more time. The airlines are open to flights anyway and
if Turkey opens the railroad and highway lines too that means
bestowing all Armenia wants altogether. This will give a position to
Armenia that is even better than Azerbaijan even. Armenia will be able
to connect the world economically through three alternative countries
of Georgia, Iran and Turkey, whereas Azerbaijan can connect to world
just through Georgia (partially through Iran). This is a huge reward
for Armenia and there is a long list of tasks to deserve that. The
first and foremost item of the list is Karabakh and other territories
under Armenian occupation.
14 September 2008
Translated by Mehmet Yegin