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2015 - A definitive year for Turkish-Armenian relations

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  • 2015 - A definitive year for Turkish-Armenian relations

    Al-Arabiya, UAE
    Jan 4 2015

    2015 - A definitive year for Turkish-Armenian relations

    Sunday, 4 January 2015


    The year of 2014 tested both Turkey's foreign and domestic politics.
    The security threat originating from the Islamic State of Iraq and
    Syria (ISIS) at its doorsteps and the domestic political turmoil
    challenged Turkish politics throughout the year. The foreign and the
    domestic issues that emerged during the year of 2014 are likely to
    continue during 2015.

    However, among several foreign policy issues, Armenia seems to be the
    most significant issue that would dominate Turkish politics in the
    first half of 2015. Given the importance of 2015, the centennial of
    the tragic events of 1915 that led to the mass killings of Armenians
    by the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Turkish-Armenian relations
    is expected to go through a hard test.

    The tragic events of 1915 are a greatly controversial matter in Turkey
    and Armenia as Armenians describe the events as "genocide" while
    Turkey says the events do not amount to genocide and that both Turks
    and Armenians were killed. April 2015, for this reason, will be very
    significant for both Turkey and Armenia. Armenians, who will be
    commemorating the centennial of the 1915 events, are engaged into
    several efforts for the international recognition of this tragedy as a
    "genocide". On Turkish side, in response to the Armenians' efforts for
    2015, Turkish government plans to commemorate the centennial of the
    Çanakkale (Dardanelles) campaign on April 24-25 in order to counter
    the adverse effects of Armenian efforts.

    Weathering the storm

    According to Richard Giragosian, the director of the Yerevan-based
    Regional Studies Center (RSC), there are both challenges and limits in
    2015; however, he believes that the Turkish government would seek to
    "weather the storm" of 2015, and only after the commemoration passes,
    would consider returning to the process of diplomatic engagement with
    Armenia.

    Giragosian, in an interview last May in Yerevan, stated that Turkish
    side was exaggerating the importance of the year 2015 to be greater
    than it actually need be. "This is a psychological burden created by
    Turkey in terms of making the year 2015 a big issue. Turkey
    overreacting to the anniversary will only make the issue a bigger
    one," he said. Agreeing with Giragosian, I believe that rather than
    considering 2015 as a panic year, Turkey should consider it as a year
    for opportunity to resume efforts at normalizing relations with
    Armenia. Turkey can take some significant steps, like it did in 2014,
    for the normalization of relations with its neighbor in 2015.

    Armenia seems to be the most significant foreign policy issue that
    would dominate Turkish politics in the first half of 2015

    Sinem Cengiz

    Last year witnessed unprecedented, significant and historic
    developments in Turkish-Armenian relations. However, the most
    important step from the Turkish side came by then- Prime Minister
    Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current president of Turkey, who issued a
    historic and a timing message of condolences about killings of
    Armenians in 1915. Erdogan's statement came on 23 April, a day before
    of 99th anniversary of the tragic events.

    For the first time in the history of Turkey, a Turkish leader offered
    condolences to the descendants of Ottoman Armenians. Such a message
    would have been unthinkable a decade ago. It was a very momentous
    indication of how the taboos regarding the Armenian question were
    breaking in Turkey although the official stance regarding the issue
    remains unchanged. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
    government, with exception to many other issues, has taken important
    steps regarding the lifting of the taboos on freely discussing 1915
    when compared to the previous Turkish governments. As Giragosian puts:
    "That statement not only offered a "safer space" within which to
    discuss the genocide issue, it also broadened the constituency for
    dialogue by sending a message not only to Armenians but also to
    Erdogan's own base of supporters. And it established an important new
    precedent, whereby every Turkish prime minister will be expected to
    make a similar statement timed with each April 24th commemoration of
    the Armenian genocide."

    Also in 2014, Yerevan positively responded to Turkish invitation to
    take part in the Erdogan's presidential inauguration ceremony. Foreign
    Minister Eduard Nalbandyan, who attended the ceremony, also invited
    Erdogan to visit Armenia on April, 24 2015. It is difficult to make a
    prediction whether Erdogan will visit Armenia or not but there are
    some steps that Turkish government can take in Armenia-Turkey
    rapprochement. Firstly, acknowledging the fact that Turkish-Armenian
    relations are multifaceted, Ankara can pursue a multidimensional
    policy in relations with Armenia. The Turkish-Armenian border, which
    has been closed since 1994, could be open as a gesture of good will.
    The long-awaited opening of the border between two neighbors would
    serve significantly in opening the mental borders between two
    societies. Secondly, the restoration of the diplomatic relations
    between two countries and the ratification of the frozen protocols
    signed between two countries in 2009 is a must for the improvement of
    the bilateral ties.

    In the last days of 2014, Etyen Mahçupyan, the top adviser for
    theTurkish prime minister, stated that a priority for the future
    should be establishing relations with Armenia as well as the
    millions-strong diaspora rather than expecting to resolve a
    long-running dispute within this year. Mahçupyan, who considers 2015
    as a "tough year" because of the anniversary, said "I don't think we
    need to hurry 100 years on. What happens later on should proceed more
    healthily."

    The improvement of the relations between two countries is not easy to
    be achieved within a year, as it requires further time for the both
    sides to make their societies ready and to take confidence building
    measures. The both sides should not consider 2015 as an end, rather it
    should be considered as a start or the efforts to normalize the ties
    between two countries in the post-2015.

    For both Ankara and Yerevan, there may be hard limitations in moving
    toward normalization; however, dragging out the process is not in
    interest of neither side. The normalization of relations between
    Turkey and Armenia will be best for the interests of the two sides as
    the peace and the stability at their doorsteps and in Caucasia is of
    great importance to both Yerevan and Ankara.

    Allow me to conclude with a quote from former Turkish Ambassador to
    UK, Ünal Çeviköz, who believes that Turkey should bring out a new
    initiative to overcome the deadlock in Turkish-Armenian relations.
    "When I think of Turkish-Armenian relations, I am inclined to
    characterize it as "history of missed opportunities" that has done
    injustice not only to the two nations, the two peoples, the two
    countries, but also to the whole Caucasus region. Unless there is
    normalization in Turkish-Armenian relations we will have serious
    difficulty in talking about an environment of sustainable peace and
    stability in the Caucasus."

    _______

    Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst based in Athens. Born and
    lived in Kuwait, Cengiz focuses mainly on issues regarding Middle East
    and Turkey's relations with the region. She was also the former
    diplomatic correspondent for Today's Zaman newspaper, English daily in
    Turkey. She is currently researching on Turkish-Saudi relations to
    complete her MA in International Relations. She can be found on
    Twitter:

    http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2015/01/04/2015-A-definitive-year-for-Turkish-Armenian-relations.html

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