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Turkey Will Not Back Off From Preconditions, Say Hovanessian

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  • Turkey Will Not Back Off From Preconditions, Say Hovanessian

    TURKEY WILL NOT BACK OFF FROM PRECONDITIONS, SAY HOVANESSIAN

    Yerkir
    Thursday, April 30, 2009

    YEREVAN (Yerkir)--Referring to statements made Wednesday by Turkey's
    Army Chief of Staff calling for the simultaneous resolution of the
    Karabakh conflict and the Armenia-Turkey border opening, the head
    of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Parliamentary bloc Vahan
    Hovanessian said that Turkey was not going to back away from setting
    pre-conditions in the negotiations process.

    In his remarks to reporters on Wednesday, Army Chief of Staff
    Gen. Ilker Basbub said, "Armenia's borders should be opened
    simultaneously with the withdrawal of Armenian forces from occupied
    Azeri territories" Basbub's comments are the first instance in which
    the powerful Turkish Military has revealed its views on the issue of
    normalizing relations with Armenia.

    Hovanessian pointed out to his fellow legislatures that Basbug was
    speaking on behalf of Army adding that, for the first time, the
    opinion of that structure was being heard.

    "We all know what significance the army has in Turkey and we also know
    who leads the political landscape there," said Hovanessian, adding that
    the top army head also sided with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
    who for weeks has been pre-conditioning the normalization of relations
    with Armenia on a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

    Responding to questions from the press on the possibility of opening=2
    0 the borders with Armenia, Basbug recalled Prime Minister Recep
    Tayyip Erdogan's statements that the opening of the borders with
    Armenia will be done simultaneously with the withdrawal of Armenian
    force from "occupied Azerbaijani territory."

    "The prime minister has clearly said the border opening will take
    place at the time when Armenian troops are withdrawn," Basbug told
    a news conference, according to Turkish media. "We completely agree
    with this."

    "I believe that the Turks, have once again, shown that our rosy
    optimism that there are no preconditions are baseless," said
    Hovanessian, adding that the armed-forces and the prime minister in
    Turkey have more weight that the president or the foreign minister,
    who have also repeatedly echoed the same position in recent weeks.

    The ARF leader went on to cite other aspects of Basbug's statements,
    in which the General says Armenia does not recognize the Kars Treaty
    and objects to the inclusion of Genocide recognition within Armenia's
    Constitution.

    A secret treaty signed between Turkey and the Soviet Union in 1921,
    the Kars Treaty drew the current boundaries of Turkey and Armenia. The
    treaty also recognized the historic Armenian territories of Karabakh
    and Nakhichevan as being part of then Soviet Azerbaijan.

    Hovanessian emphasized that Basbug's comments were indicative of the
    pre-conditions being pushed by Turkey, adding that the Armenian 0D
    government's continued silence on the matter is "a dangerous policy
    shift that must be corrected."

    It remains unclear, when the Armenian and Turkish governments plan
    to establish diplomatic relations and reopen the border. Neither
    government has officially disclosed the framework yet.

    Meanwhile, reports in the Turkish press have said that the United
    States was closely involved in the drawing up of the Turkish-Armenian
    statement.

    According to "Hurriyet Daily News," Erdogan agreed to sign it only
    after Washington threatened to recognize the Genocide.

    Meanwhile, diplomatic sources in Yerevan said on Thursday that Foreign
    Minister Edward Nalbandian will fly to Washington this weekend for
    talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Turkish-Armenian
    relations will be high on their agenda.

    Clinton and Nalbandian already discussed the issue over the phone
    on Monday.

    According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Clinton described the
    "roadmap" agreement as "historic."
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