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Turkey Should Make Friends With Armenia To Win Confidence Of The Eur

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  • Turkey Should Make Friends With Armenia To Win Confidence Of The Eur

    TURKEY SHOULD MAKE FRIENDS WITH ARMENIA TO WIN CONFIDENCE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

    ArmInfo
    2010-03-02 11:45:00

    Interview of Secretary General of the European Friends of Armenia
    (EuFoA) Michael Kambeck with ArmInfo News Agency

    The Europe-Armenia Advisory Council (EAAC), being a structure of
    the European Friends of Armenia organization, sent an open letter
    to the European political figures and EU representatives, urging the
    European structures to get involved in the process of normalization
    of the Armenian-Turkish relations.

    In the letter, addressed to President of the European Parliament Jerzy
    Buzek, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
    Catherine Ashton, Chairman of EP Foreign Affairs Committee Gabrielle
    Albertini and EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter
    Semneby, contains an appeal to affect Armenia and Turkey for them
    to ratify the Protocols without preconditions in a reasonable time
    period of two months. What instruments may the EU use to urge Turkey
    to ratify Protocols within a timeframe of no more than 2 months as
    you recommended?

    I am pretty sure that the new High Representative Baroness Ashton,
    as quasi EU-Foreign Minister, will soon be more public on this issue
    and make a statement that the EU welcomes the Armenian steps towards
    ratification and invites Turkey to follow suit. Turkey needs to know
    that the world is watching it. The EU is already quite tired about
    Turkey signing treaties but never ratifying or implementing them, like
    in the example of Cyprus. The unique thing about the ongoing process
    is that an EU-US-Russia consensus has been reached, advocating for
    unconditional and timely ratification of the protocols. That consensus
    lays the basis for a very favourable environment for the EU action
    given the latter's commitment for an effective multilateralism in
    the international arena. Let's not forget that the EU has new and
    much more effective rules for its foreign policy.

    EU now has all necessary means to reach its declared ambitions
    of becoming a stronger, more coherent and pro-active actor in
    the Caucasus. The EU wants peace and growth and can achieve this
    in co-operation with Russia and the USA. Practically this means: a
    common statement of all 27 Member States urging Turkey to seriously
    engage in the ratification of the protocols.

    Moreover, a high level EU visit to the region in order to deliver
    its firm message to the political actors concerned and setting
    up mechanisms for cross-border cooperation and rehabilitation of
    transport and communication infrastructure along the border. The US
    and Russia have made some similar steps or are considering them. The
    EU now has the tools to do all of this and I am happy that, not least
    after the recent open letter by the EAAC (Europe-Armenia Advisory
    Council), the EU is very committed to act in an even stronger and
    more visible manner.

    An issue of rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey and reopening
    the border has never been a key issue in the process of Turkey's
    joining the EU. Yet, don't you think the EU should clearly put such
    a precondition in its own negotiation?

    We must not forget that the Turkish accession bid is a very old one and
    that when it was filed, Armenia was still part of the USSR. Since then
    there has been a very vivid debate in the EU which conditions to apply,
    but there was a consensus that Turkey should join! This debate always
    included good relations with Turkey's neighbours, but unfortunately
    did not specify Armenia explicitly in the accession conditions.

    However, the European Commission has made it clear several times that
    it cannot imagine an accession with unresolved neighbourly problems,
    especially with Cyprus, Syria and Armenia. The European Parliament has
    been even more explicit making this condition in several resolutions
    and this Parliament will need to vote on the accession treaty to ratify
    it. So formally, it may not be a precondition, but Turkey knows very
    well that it is a problem they need to resolve before being able
    to join.

    Let me add that it is a good thing that the normalisation of relations
    with Armenia are not formally linked to the EU accession, because this
    would only give more arguments to the nationalists in Turkey who want
    to kill the EU-accession process. In reality, the EU is formulating
    this question in a different way: does Turkey want to become a
    mature, credible and modern international player or does it want to
    have its foreign policy defined by its more extreme nationalists and
    Azerbaijan? This fundamental question needs an answer, and this answer
    is in the interest of Turkey and the EU and the whole region. It is
    in Turkey's interest to develop into a mature and reliable state,
    which will make everyone gain. So there are many reasons why Turkey
    will need to reconcile ties with Armenia before an EU accession,
    but not necessarily because of the EU accession.

    The open letter called upon Azerbaijan to contribute to the ongoing
    Armenia-Turkey process. How practical it is to ask for efforts from
    Azerbaijan taking into account the existing animosity between Armenia
    and Azerbaijan?

    It is my firm belief and that of the EAAC (Europe-Armenia Advisory
    Council) that the implementation of the provisions of the protocols
    will promote peace, stability and progress in the entire region.

    Azerbaijan's efforts to derail the Armenia-Turkey rapprochement is
    a direct threat to this positive perspective of regional stability.

    It is clear that the vital condition for such a positive development
    consists in decoupling the Armenia-Turkey normalisation from the final
    resolution of the NKR conflict. In other words, linking these two
    issues will certainly kill the prospects of solution for both of them.

    The EU, Russia and the US know that and say this more or less openly.

    The EAAC called especially upon Azerbaijan to turn towards a
    constructive policy in order to remind publicly that Azerbaijan
    currently is a key obstacle! I think Azerbaijan has done a great
    job in recent years to create a hostile and undemocratic image of
    its country and this call and similar calls can only be an appeal
    to their reason: it is in Azerbaijan's interest to improve its image
    and to achieve more stability and growth in the Caucasus.

    Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair in the Annual Threat
    Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, stated that "Although
    there has been progress in the past year toward Turkey-Armenia
    rapprochement, this has affected the delicate relationship between
    Armenia and Azerbaijan, and increases the risk of a renewed conflict
    over Nagorno-Karabakh". What do you think about this alarming
    prediction that actually threatens the development of two processes?

    The news is that in this year's Annual Threat Assessment of the
    US Intelligence Community the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has had
    the attention it deserves and is not overshadowed by other regional
    confrontations. Therefore, there are chances that such an assessment
    will trigger a stronger commitment of the US, alongside with France
    and Russia, for the resolution of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

    However, I cannot agree with this assessment. The key factor missing
    to achieve a breakthrough is political will on the Azeri side to sign
    what has already been agreed upon in the framework of the Minsk group
    negotiations. Azeri war rhetorics repeatedly threatening to take back
    NKR by force, don't really prepare the Azeri public for a peaceful
    solution - there is no such political will.

    In fact, the only thing that I can imagine to convince Azerbaijan
    to agree to a durable compromise is if they don't feel that Turkey
    will at all costs always be on its side, even allowing Azerbaijan to
    determine much of the Turkish foreign policy. This means that any
    success registered on Armenia-Turkey bi-laterals has the potential
    to contribute to the security in South Caucasus and not to hinder it.

    Swedish Parliament prepares to vote on a motion that describes the
    killing of Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire as
    Genocide. Another motion is under the way in the American Congress.

    Meanwhile, Turkey believes such motions hamper its efforts to normalize
    its fragile relations with Armenia. What do you think? Why it is
    important to pursue this issue in the foreign Parliaments?

    The alleged linkage between the international recognition of the
    Armenian genocide and the steps to be undertaken for the normalisation
    of Armenia-Turkey relations seems to be the latest excuse fabricated
    by some Turkish political circles to obstruct the ratification of the
    protocols in the Turkish Parliament. We at EuFoA, together with EAAC
    (Europe-Armenia Advisory Council), reject any such linkage.

    In other words, the international recognition and acknowledgement of
    the Armenian genocide, and genocides in general, is not only a right
    of the victims and their descendants, it is rather a universal duty
    of any civilised society, genocides being a crime against humanity.

    Besides, Turkey only developed the necessary energy to move ahead in
    the rapprochement last April, just before the Genocide memorial day. I
    think it is clear that potential international recognitions don't
    slow down the process but can actually make a positive contribution,
    including educating the Turkish public about its past and its neighbor.

    Interview by Oksana Musaelyan, February 26, 2010.
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