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Turkey Shows Its Discomfiting Side ... Again

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  • Turkey Shows Its Discomfiting Side ... Again

    TURKEY SHOWS ITS DISCOMFITING SIDE ... AGAIN
    By Seto Boyajian

    http://www.asbarez.com/2009/05/22/turkey -shows-its-discomfiting-side-again/
    May 22, 2009

    Turks used to loath Arabs enough that they preferred to forego
    delicious Arab pastries so as to avoid meeting an Arab. Turks even
    coined a boastful saying to this effect - "Ne Shamin shekeri, ne
    Arapin yuzu" (Neither the sweets of Damascus, nor the face of the
    Arab). Armenians by tradition do not nurture such vulgar prejudicial
    practices toward other people and nations, epecially towards Arabs,
    who have been generous hosts by welcoming into their lands and by
    caring for thousands of Armenians fleeing the state-organized Ottoman
    Turkish massacres from 1915 to 1923.

    Armenians, however, dealing for so many centuries with the Turks,
    have developed a keen understanding of the Turkish state of mind in
    matters of safety, security and trade. This experience has taught
    Armenians that words of the Turkish leadership do not translate into
    their true meaning when they are put into action. For this reason,
    it would be most appropriate to adapt the above Turkish saying with
    a corrective twist - "Ne Turkin sozi, nede onun ishi" (Neither the
    Turk's word, nor his action).

    Recent pronouncements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
    come once again to prove, unfortunately, that the disparity between
    Turkish word and action is real. It appears that this discomfiting
    Turkish attitude towards Armenia and Armenians has become engrained
    in Turkish body politic.

    Last week, during his visit to Azerbaijan, Erdogan reiterated that
    Turkey will neither reopen the border and nor establish diplomatic
    relations with Armenia so long as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains
    unresolved. Despite the ongoing bilateral negotiations between Armenia
    and Turkey, he explicitly reaffirmed the position that there was a
    linkage between those negotiations and the Karabakh problem.

    At the joint press conference with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev,
    Erdogan made this position crystal clear. He stated, "Occupation of
    Karabakh is the cause here and closing of the border is the effect. It
    is impossible for us to open the border unless that occupation ends."

    While in Russia, Erdogan sought Russia's support for his country's
    bid for a role in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. At a joint news
    meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, he claimed that
    "Turkey and Russia have responsibilities in the region." He said,
    "We have to take steps for the peace and wellbeing of the region. This
    includes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Middle East dispute,
    and the Cyprus issue."

    In diplomatic parlance, Erdogan's claims can only serve the dual
    purpose of undermining the Karabakh peace process supervised by the
    OSCE Minsk Group (co-chaired by France, Russia, and the U.S.) and
    trivializing the ongoing talks with Armenia. Erdogan's linkage of the
    two processes is now beginning to be viewed as an exercise harboring
    danger to the peace and stability in the region. So much so that,
    at the beginning of this week, the OSCE Minsk Group delegated one
    of its co-chairs, Ambassador Bernard Fassier, to Turkey to warn the
    Turkish government on its recent linkage policy.

    According to Turkish daily Hurriyet, the French co-chair attempted to
    impress upon Turkey that the Karabakh peace process cannot be linked
    to the normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations, and warned Ankara
    that any attempt to link the two can harm both processes. Ambassador
    Fassier asserted, "The normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations should
    not be confused with the Karabakh conflict. These are different and
    parallel processes." He further stressed that for the Minsk Group,
    as well as the U.S., Turkey-Armenia negotiations and Karabakh peace
    talks are separate processes.

    All this adds up to one fact. Namely, words and action are not
    correlated in Turkish diplomacy. The tragic aspect of this reality
    is that the Obama administration - despite its predecessors' vast
    experience in Turkish unreliability unless supported by billions of
    dollars of American money and/or diplomatic/political concessions at
    the expense of American values and principles - has yet to learn not
    to trust Turkey without verification.

    With regards to the promisingly budding "friendly" relations between
    Turkey and Armenia, the Obama administration was duped into accepting
    Turkey's word as opposed to its real intents and action. As soon
    as the April 24 Presidential Statement was issued, the April 22nd
    Armenian-Turkish foreign ministerial joint statement with its fanciful
    "roadmap" wore out its utility. Now, the National Security Advisor,
    the White House Chief of Staff, and the U.S. Ambassador to the United
    Nations have to explain to the President Turkey's linkage policy that
    is endangering the parallel yet separate processes of Turkey-Armenia
    negotiations and the Karabakh conflict resolution.

    The trio advisors pressingly urged the President - and they carried
    the day - to avoid the word Genocide without serious consideration of
    the Turkish intent. They failed to grasp that Turkey was playing for
    time - at least until April 24, because Turkey would never seriously
    entertain the possibility of opening its borders and establish normal
    diplomatic relation with Armenia, unless the following three conditions
    are met by Armenia:

    a. Cessation of the pursuit of the Armenian Genocide recognition
    internationally;

    b. Acceptance of the voided October 1923 Kars Treaty; and,

    c. Return of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani jurisdiction.

    With all the Turkish hoopla and hype, the President's said top
    advisors did not get and still do not get that Armenia will always be a
    hindrance to Turkish strategic designs beyond the Caucasus, that Turkey
    cherishes regional interests in conflict to U.S. interests, and that
    Turkey seeks to boost its regional role to the detriment of the U.S.

    These geopolitical factors should raise serious concern with our
    President and his advisers. Hopefully, the next time around, they
    too will begin to appreciate the Armenian experience and acquire the
    expertise to detect the distinction between Turkish word and action.
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