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"THE FRENCH SENATE'S LEGISLATION OF THE PAST IN THE PRESENT HAS DIRE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE FUTURE"
APA
Feb 6 2012
Azerbaijan
"Azerbaijan's approach to the French Senate's passing of the 'Armenian
genocide' bill has been constructive though it is difficult when
Azerbaijan is still at war with Armenia for it to play much more of a
positive role", Dr. Joshua W. Walker, a Transatlantic Fellow at the
German Marshall Fund of the United States, where he runs the Turkey
Program, told in an interview with APA.
"Obviously Turkey and Azerbaijan must coordinate and work together,
but there are different interests in Ankara and Baku when it comes to
Yerevan, yet ironically the Armenian lobby brings them closer together
which is in direct contradiction to Yerevan's interest", he said.
The analyst believes that the French Senate's legislation of the
past in the present "has dire consequences for the future". "Every
democracy has its pitfalls and in particular the narrow interests
of lobbies everywhere have negative consequences as we are seeing
in the case of French-Turkish relations. Rather than focusing on
the similarities and convergence of interest between France and
Turkey fellow Minsk Group, NATO, and G-20 allies the French Senate
passing the bill penalizing denial of the "Armenian genocide" has
hurt everyone's interests rather than gaining anything".
Speaking about the possible affect of the French "genocide bill" to
the Nagorno-Karabakh adjustment process, Mr. Walker mentioned that
Nagorno-Karabakh unfortunately is a deeply frozen conflict that will
be unaffected by the French bill precisely because this conflict is
not just a problem from the past, but of present realities. Ankara's
own internal calculations vice-a-vie Baku and Yerevan and competing
international and regional interests will ultimately have far more
impact than anything Paris can legislate.
The analyst also considers that Armenian-Turkish rapprochement has
been stillborn almost from the beginning of the 2009 protocol signing
because of the domestic and regional political realities in Ankara,
Baku, and Yerevan.
"Rather than focusing on a positive agenda in an environment of trust,
we have seen nothing but negatively and insincerity unfortunately. I
think Armenian-Turkish rapprochement is in everyone's long-term
interest, but the short term ramifications and the ongoing history
issues with Turkey and present day frozen conflict with Azerbaijan
make me pessimistic about the possibilities of genuine reconciliation",
he added.
According to him, the US has done all it can do and quite frankly
needs to focus on being a more fair and balanced broker given its
own domestic components.
"Armenia's President got more severely criticized when he came to
Los Angeles and Boston than in his own country for the reconciliation
process which shows how skewed this entire process has been.
Ultimately it is in America's long-term interest to help Armenia
and Turkey reconcile so they can work out their differences directly
rather than indirectly".
He also underscored that Turkey as a candidate country for the EU
has never been treated the same as any other country, yet Albania as
another Muslim country that has integrated into European structure
offers some hope particularly for a country like Azerbaijan that has
a more relaxed understanding of religion.
"Turkey is a deeply conservative and religious country that has a role
to play as a leader and spokesman for Muslims around the world, where
as Azerbaijan has less of a role, yet as seen from Europe they will
very much be put in the same category. So how ever far Turkey can go
with Europe is a win for Azerbaijan and vice-versa, so whether it is
in Eurovision or the European Union their destinies will be forever
linked", he said.
APA
Feb 6 2012
Azerbaijan
"Azerbaijan's approach to the French Senate's passing of the 'Armenian
genocide' bill has been constructive though it is difficult when
Azerbaijan is still at war with Armenia for it to play much more of a
positive role", Dr. Joshua W. Walker, a Transatlantic Fellow at the
German Marshall Fund of the United States, where he runs the Turkey
Program, told in an interview with APA.
"Obviously Turkey and Azerbaijan must coordinate and work together,
but there are different interests in Ankara and Baku when it comes to
Yerevan, yet ironically the Armenian lobby brings them closer together
which is in direct contradiction to Yerevan's interest", he said.
The analyst believes that the French Senate's legislation of the
past in the present "has dire consequences for the future". "Every
democracy has its pitfalls and in particular the narrow interests
of lobbies everywhere have negative consequences as we are seeing
in the case of French-Turkish relations. Rather than focusing on
the similarities and convergence of interest between France and
Turkey fellow Minsk Group, NATO, and G-20 allies the French Senate
passing the bill penalizing denial of the "Armenian genocide" has
hurt everyone's interests rather than gaining anything".
Speaking about the possible affect of the French "genocide bill" to
the Nagorno-Karabakh adjustment process, Mr. Walker mentioned that
Nagorno-Karabakh unfortunately is a deeply frozen conflict that will
be unaffected by the French bill precisely because this conflict is
not just a problem from the past, but of present realities. Ankara's
own internal calculations vice-a-vie Baku and Yerevan and competing
international and regional interests will ultimately have far more
impact than anything Paris can legislate.
The analyst also considers that Armenian-Turkish rapprochement has
been stillborn almost from the beginning of the 2009 protocol signing
because of the domestic and regional political realities in Ankara,
Baku, and Yerevan.
"Rather than focusing on a positive agenda in an environment of trust,
we have seen nothing but negatively and insincerity unfortunately. I
think Armenian-Turkish rapprochement is in everyone's long-term
interest, but the short term ramifications and the ongoing history
issues with Turkey and present day frozen conflict with Azerbaijan
make me pessimistic about the possibilities of genuine reconciliation",
he added.
According to him, the US has done all it can do and quite frankly
needs to focus on being a more fair and balanced broker given its
own domestic components.
"Armenia's President got more severely criticized when he came to
Los Angeles and Boston than in his own country for the reconciliation
process which shows how skewed this entire process has been.
Ultimately it is in America's long-term interest to help Armenia
and Turkey reconcile so they can work out their differences directly
rather than indirectly".
He also underscored that Turkey as a candidate country for the EU
has never been treated the same as any other country, yet Albania as
another Muslim country that has integrated into European structure
offers some hope particularly for a country like Azerbaijan that has
a more relaxed understanding of religion.
"Turkey is a deeply conservative and religious country that has a role
to play as a leader and spokesman for Muslims around the world, where
as Azerbaijan has less of a role, yet as seen from Europe they will
very much be put in the same category. So how ever far Turkey can go
with Europe is a win for Azerbaijan and vice-versa, so whether it is
in Eurovision or the European Union their destinies will be forever
linked", he said.