Monday, April 6, 2009

Nalbandyan says No Preconditions - not Genocide, not NK, no nada... Really?

A1plus has run a short story on Nalbandyan's recent comments:

"The normalisation of Armenian-Turkish relations should have no preconditions and it is with this mutual understanding that we have been negotiating with the Turkish side," said Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in reply to the recent statements of some Turkish officials.
Normalisation of the relations has no linkage to the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh problem and has never been a subject of negotiations towards the normalisation of Armenian - Turkish relations.
It has been said many times, and I want to stress it again, that the normalisation of Armenian-Turkish relations can never question the reality of Armenian Genocide.


Where is the internal consistency in this statement? Genocide is not a precondition, but normalisation can never question the reality of Armenian Genocide? Each of the sentences seems to try to satisfy a different group applying pressure, whether its Turkey, the ARF, or western countries trying to "help solve" these issues. These are nice statements, maybe, but not connected to each other, or to any reality. For just one example of what I'm talking about, see the transcript of Erdogan's statement at Chattham house, just one post ago.

Funny, the LTP administration tried to separate Genocide recognition from present day politics. It was Kocharyan who brought it back into the picture, thus gaining the support of the ARF, whom he kept in his back pocket, and the identity-confused Spyurk. Now, the lives and rights of present day Armenians continue to be oppressed, the economic situation is in crisis, and we're going in circles about NK-Genocide-border issues, and it seems (to some) the way out is to do a swap (funny, sounds like something Kocharyan tried to do with Meghri back in the day). Recognition of the Genocide has become a bartering tool, it has become demeaned to a poker chip thrown into a pile. I know that isn't the intention of the ARF, but that's where we've landed.

UPDATE: Hurriyet Article:
Armenian FM expected to arrive in Turkey late afternoon
ISTANBUL – The attendance of the Armenian Foreign Minister at the Alliance of Civilizations summit has become a mystery after he failed to board a flight from Yerevan Sunday night as expected.
"His strong language in his statements to Interfax news Sunday denying that the Karabakh issue is not related to establishing relations between Turkey and Armenia were interpreted as a reaction to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s statements.
Turkey will not lift its blockade of Armenia unless the country fulfils Turkey’s preconditions regarding the Karabakh issue and the international recognition of the Armenian claims regarding the 1915 incidents, Erdogan said in London Friday during the G20 summit."

5 comments:

Ani said...

Maybe he'll get a more coherent statement now that SS talked to Medevev on the telephone, so now he'll know what his opinion is supposed to be.

a1plus.am/en/official/2009/04/6/sargsyan-medvedev

Unemployed Uzbeki Alchoholic Taxi Driver said...

Vay you spend so much time thinking about vat politicians say?

Unemployed Uzbeki Alchoholic Taxi Driver said...

Zahr-e Mar.

http://uneployeduzbekialchoholic.blogspot.com/

tzitzernak2 said...

For an Uzbeki, my friend, you seem to know Persian quite well...

Armen Filadelfiatsi said...

Cheeses, you know Farsi, too? Is there a language that you don't know?