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BAKU: Obama's Karabakh Pledge 'Does Not Mean Satisfaction' For Turke

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  • BAKU: Obama's Karabakh Pledge 'Does Not Mean Satisfaction' For Turke

    OBAMA'S KARABAKH PLEDGE 'DOES NOT MEAN SATISFACTION' FOR TURKEY
    Kamala Mammadova

    news.az
    April 14 2010
    Azerbaijan

    Manvel Sargsyan News.Az interviews Manvel Sargsyan, an expert at the
    Armenian Centre of Strategic and National Studies.

    How do you assess the Washington meetings between Erdogan and Sargsyan,
    Obama and Sargsyan and Obama and Erdogan?

    I suppose this is an important stage on the way to overcoming complex
    hindrances in our region. The US role in this process should not be
    underestimated, especially since according to US officials, the country
    is cooperating with Russia. Considering the fact that the United
    States and Russia are Turkey's main partners, the developments must
    play a decisive role with the direct involvement of the United States.

    In this sense, the US position on all aspects of the 'Armenian
    issue' and on the principles of approaches to the normalization of
    Armenian-Turkish relations was initially of great importance. I mean
    the approach that predicates the normalization of relations without
    preconditions, as well as the inexpedience of binding the Karabakh
    conflict to the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. The
    meetings in Washington provide further proof that the United States
    sticks to this position. In addition, there has been no clarification
    of the US attitude to the recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

    Turkey's desire to take this problem off the agenda has not
    received obvious support yet. Neither the US nor Armenia accept any
    preconditions for the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols.

    I think Turkey's leadership has only just started to understand
    the full complexity of the international situation. The attempts to
    begin rapprochement with Armenia from the starting point of demands
    to acknowledge the legitimacy of Turkey's many claims on regional
    problems have created great difficulties for Turkey. This approach
    by Turkey has not received international support.

    The US president has urged the parties to normalize relations. Is the
    United States interested in the resolution of the Armenian-Turkish
    conflict?

    Armenian-Turkish relations are a political phenomenon that goes beyond
    the narrow framework of relations between Armenia and Turkey. They have
    a significant geopolitical importance. The aforementioned approaches
    of the superpowers to the settlement of these relations are connected
    with this. The world wants to see new relations between Turkey and
    Armenia on the basis of clear prerequisites. That is, there is an
    intention to change not only the scheme of political relations in
    the region but also Turkey's philosophy and they are trying to make
    Turkey disavow most of its traditional approaches in its policy.

    Turkey is not perceived as an appropriate partner in its current
    political image. The normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is
    a specific examination for Turkey.

    The Turkish prime minister said none of the US leaders had ever used
    the word 'genocide' and 'we hope Obama will also not use this word'.

    What do you think about this statement and the issue overall?

    Turkey sees political sense in the US approach to the problem of the
    1915 genocide or, to be more exact, it links this approach to the
    nature of the United States' relations with Turkey. As an important
    US partner, Turkey does not consider the accusations of a grave crime
    appropriate. Nevertheless, the Turkish leadership is facing a reverse
    trend: the parliaments of Western countries continue to discuss and
    recognize the Armenian genocide. If the United States takes this step,
    Western demands on Turkey will become tougher and will be turned into
    deliberately consolidated policy.

    As the Turkish leadership has adopted the tactic of rejecting the
    1915 genocide and builds its policy on this tactic, the possible
    recognition of this historical fact by the United States can frustrate
    the important basis of foreign and domestic policy. The resolution
    adopted by the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign
    Affairs on 4 March urges the president 'to ensure the conduct of
    a foreign policy that reflects an adequate understanding of issues
    connected with human rights, ethnic cleansing and genocide'.

    Certainly, if this resolution is adopted by the US Congress, it will
    influence the country's policy towards Turkey.

    This very circumstance has made the problem of genocide the leading
    issue in Turkey's policy. Undoubtedly, it has become the main concern
    of the Turkish leadership in the current meetings in Washington.

    How can the Washington meetings affect the Karabakh conflict
    settlement?

    US President Barack Obama is reported to have assured Turkish Prime
    Minister Erdogan that he will spare no effort for the resolution of the
    Karabakh conflict. However, there are no hints that this problem can
    be bound to the problem of the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish
    relations.

    The problem is that Turkey's understanding of the settlement of the
    Karabakh conflict does not mesh with the outlook of most leading
    centres of power. Turkey's willingness to use the Armenian-Turkish
    process to transfer Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan cannot be an
    acceptable provision in international affairs. The promise to settle
    the Karabakh conflict does not mean the satisfaction of Turkey's
    demands at all.

    Possibly, Turkey also agrees to any method to settle the conflict
    over Nagorno-Karabakh. The constant pressure by Azerbaijan is also
    unacceptable for Turkey in the long term since Turkey's policy has
    been hostage to Azerbaijani demands for two years now. Though the
    factor of Azerbaijan may be valuable for Turkey, it cannot paralyse
    its policy for long, because it just becomes senseless. Therefore,
    Turkey's interests on Karabakh cannot be completely identical to
    those of Azerbaijan. The development of the international situation
    over Armenian-Turkish relations makes Turkey more convinced about it.

    Most assessments of the Washington meetings between the leaders of
    Turkey, Armenia and the United States show a restrained attitude
    of the Turkish leadership to the Karabakh issue as a precondition
    for Armenian-Turkish rapprochement. Turkey is likely to persuade
    Azerbaijan that such a precondition may be harmful to Azerbaijani
    interests too. Any unaccepted precondition may cause new waves of
    confrontation which will ultimately worsen the state of the region.
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