Armenian-Turkish Relations

[KanadaHye]

Re: Turkey Calls Armenian High Court Ruling ‘Unacceptable’

Some Armenians, including our FM, cried to urge us that there are no preconditions in the protocols, but now they changed their mind: after the constitutional court ruling. Amazing how easily they do it!

Politics, it's a dirty game.

News from TAIWAN?!?

Turkey says reconciliation with Armenia at risk

By SELCAN HACAOGLU
Associated Press
2010-01-20 11:21 PM

The Turkish prime minister on Wednesday said an Armenian court's reference to the mass killings of Armenians could harm efforts to end a century of enmity.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan was reacting to the Jan. 12 approval by Armenia's Constitutional Court of an October agreement to heal ties and reopen shared borders.

Armenia on Tuesday defended the court's decision, triggering an exchange of harsh statements that could further complicate the two countries' implementation of the deal.

In a ruling on whether the proposed agreement was constitutional, the Armenian court referred to the country's independence declaration, which calls for recognition of the 1915 massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

Turkey says the number is inflated and that many died on both sides during a chaotic period.

Erdogan called the court's ruling "unacceptable" and warned that the process of reconciliation "would be harmed if it is not corrected."

"Moreover, we don't have the luxury of keeping Armenia-Azerbaijan relations out of this," Erdogan said in apparent response to the court's also saying agreements with Turkey shouldn't concern any third party. He spoke during a visit to Saudi Arabia.

Turkey also wants Armenian troops withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-occupied enclave in Azerbaijan. Turkey closed the border in 1993 to protest Armenia's war with neighboring Azerbaijan.

"No one should expect deliberations on the protocols to take place even at the commission level, let alone the floor, unless Armenia withdraws from Nagorno-Karabakh," Bekir xxxdag, a senior lawmaker from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, said on Wednesday. "Armenia must honor its promise and fulfill its responsibility if it wants the normalization of ties between the two countries."

Turkey shares ethnic and cultural bonds with Azerbaijan and wants a peaceful settlement to the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey's recent spat with Armenia has emboldened the country's opposition to demand the government scrap the Oct. 10 deal altogether.

Devlet Bahceli, the chairman of a nationalist opposition party, said the government should "immediately withdraw" the protocols from the parliament. No date has been set for their ratification.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_...&lang=eng_news

[gegev]

Re: Turkey Calls Armenian High Court Ruling ‘Unacceptable’

Some Armenians, including our FM, cried to urge us that there are no preconditions in the protocols, but now they changed their mind: after the constitutional court ruling. Amazing how easily they do it!

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

I guess the turcks dont like the taste of their own medicine lol.

[ashot24]

Re: Turkey Calls Armenian High Court Ruling ‘Unacceptable’

^LOL!!!

I believe by now it should be really clear that the protocols are not going to be ratified [at last not in the upcoming future] and are most likely to be kept frozen while both countries discuss and discuss and this can go forever, so....

[KanadaHye]

Re: Turkey Calls Armenian High Court Ruling ‘Unacceptable’

Erdogan threatens to freeze reconciliation with Armenia



If RA Constitutional Court does not change its decision on the Protocols, the Armenia-Turkey reconciliation might be blocked, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in the course of his visit to Saudi Arabia.

“RA CC acted secretly and naturally Turkey cannot accept secretly presented approaches. We introduced the signed Protocols to the parliament immediately without any changes. Not a single word was changed in the documents from our side, which shows our sincerity, unlike Armenia,” Erdogan said. “Unless this mistake is corrected, the process will be protracted. Armenia-Azerbaijani relations will be affected as well,” he underlined, adding that he stated this before the signing too. According to him, this position was also voiced during his meetings with Russian and U.S. presidents, “Relations with Armenia will be normalized, however the latter should put an end to occupation.”

January 19, Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing the decision of RA Constitutional Court on Armenia-Turkey Protocols. ‘This decision contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols. The said decision undermines the very reason for negotiating these Protocols as well as their fundamental objective," the statement reads.

Yesterday Nalbandian stated that he intends to contact his counterpart Mr. Davutoglu, “to clarify where in the decision of the Constitutional Court of Armenia the Turkish side sees preconditions and how they contradict the very reason of the Protocols.” “I hope that by such statement the Turkish side is not attempting to justify its continuous efforts in laying down preconditions and cover up its needless delays in the ratification process,” he outlined.

A.G.

http://news.am/en/news/12528.html

[londontsi]

Re: Turkey Calls Armenian High Court Ruling ‘Unacceptable’

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg300296.html

Turkey not happy because there are preconditions to setting preconditions.


Turkey Claims Armenian `Preconditions'

Azerbaijan -- Ahmet Davutoglu, foreign minister of Turkey, in Baku,
26May2009

19.01.2010
Tigran Avetisian

Turkey has accused Armenia of setting `unacceptable' preconditions for
normalizing bilateral ties, citing the Armenian Constitutional Court's
interpretation of the ground-breaking agreements signed by the two
estranged nations. (UPDATED)


Official Yerevan expressed on Tuesday its `bewilderment' with the claim,
suggesting that the Turkish government might be seeking a new excuse to
delay the parliamentary ratification of the agreements.

The court upheld on January 12 the legality of the two protocols that
commit Ankara to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan and open
the Turkish-Armenian boarder. In an apparent response to domestic
criticism of the deal, it also indicated that the documents can not have
any bearing on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or inhibit Armenia's
pursuit of greater international recognition of the Armenian genocide.

The ruling specifically mentioned Armenia's 1990 declaration of
independence from the Soviet Union that refers to the `genocide of
Armenians in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia.' The opposition
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), the most vocal
detractor of the deal, has construed that as a de facto invalidation of
key provisions of the protocols. The nationalist party wants the
Armenian parliament to ratify them with corresponding `reservations.'

The Turkish Foreign Ministry offered late on Monday a similar
interpretation of the Constitutional Court ruling. `It has been observed
that this decision contains preconditions and restrictive provisions
which impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols,' it said in a
statement.

`The said decision undermines the very reason for negotiating these
Protocols as well as their fundamental objective. This approach cannot
be accepted on our part,' the ministry said without elaboration.

`Turkey, in line with its accustomed allegiance to its international
commitments, maintains its adherence to the primary provisions of these
Protocols. We expect the same allegiance from the Armenian Government,'
added the statement.

Successive Turkish governments have longed portrayed the reference to
`Western Armenia' as proof of Armenian claims to areas in eastern Turkey
that were populated by many Armenians until their 1915-1918 mass
killings and deportations. Dashnaktsutyun likewise believes that the
1990 declaration, which is mentioned in the Armenian constitution's
preamble, bars Yerevan from explicitly recognizing the existing
Turkish-Armenian border.


Switzerland -- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (2ndR) and his
Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandiana (2nd L) shake hands as they hold
signed documents after a signing ceremony, Zurich, 10Oct2009
In a written statement issued late on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Eduard
Nalbandian said he will phone his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu,
to `express my bewilderment and clarify where exactly Turkish side sees
preconditions and just how the decision by Armenia's Constitutional
Court contradicts the fundamental objectives of the protocols.'

`I hope that with such a statement the Turkish side is not trying to
justify its continuous attempts to set preconditions and disguise an
undue stalling of the process of protocol ratification,' warned
Nalbandian.

Armenia's leadership has repeatedly accused the Turks of acting against
the letter and spirit of the Turkish-Armenian agreements with statements
linking their implementation to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. President Serzh Sarkisian warned last month that Yerevan will
walk away from the deal if Ankara fails to ratify it `within a
reasonable time frame.'

[Anoush]

Re: Turkey Calls Armenian High Court Ruling ‘Unacceptable’

Yes, thank God Armenia's Constitutional Court went with the By-Laws. The A.R.F. said it all along that the protocols as it stands is not constitutional and right for our Republic's future. Besides the ARF said that if the protocols that they rejected all along, if it is to be ratified as is, the ARF was going to sue the government. Thank God that things seem to be working out now. Armenia simply cannot go against Armenia's Constitutional By-Laws.

Yes good comeback by Armenia's High Court.

[Hye]

Re: Turkey Calls Armenian High Court Ruling ‘Unacceptable’

If this is a treason I would like to know what is not. Good article thank you kanadahye I hope by reading this we people would think clearer about the protocol and more importantly our leaders in Armeniaand next time let's weight our words before throwing them left and right.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Turkey Calls Armenian High Court Ruling ‘Unacceptable’

Turks need to know that they cannot expect any Armenian compromise on the NKR situation and furthermore they cannot try to settle both accounts as one. Each one is hard enough to solve by itself and if you combine them then both will fail.


I didn’t know that and I am glad Armenia has that in its constitution and will not allow it to be compromised.

And the second protocol……they are right, it does not mention the 1915 events when it calls for “implement a dialog on the historical dimension and scientific examination of historical records to restore mutual confidence.

Good comeback by Armenian High Court

I like the fact that Armenia's independence declares the inclusion of Western Armenia. Full independence requires that Western Armenia be returned to its rightful owners.... the Armenian people.

[Eddo211]

Re: Turkey Calls Armenian High Court Ruling ‘Unacceptable’

Second, as veteran commentator David Petrosian pointed out on January 18, paragraph 5 of the Armenian Constitutional Court argumentation affirms that the protocols "cannot be interpreted...in a way that would contradict the provisions of the preamble to the Republic of Armenian constitution and the requirements of Paragraph 11 of the [1990] Declaration of Independence of Armenia." That paragraph reads: The Republic of Armenia is for the international recognition of the Armenian genocide of 1915 committed in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia."

http://www.rferl.org/content/Turkey_...e/1933592.html

Turks need to know that they cannot expect any Armenian compromise on the NKR situation and furthermore they cannot try to settle both accounts as one. Each one is hard enough to solve by itself and if you combine them then both will fail.


I didn’t know that and I am glad Armenia has that in its constitution and will not allow it to be compromised.

And the second protocol……they are right, it does not mention the 1915 events when it calls for “implement a dialog on the historical dimension and scientific examination of historical records to restore mutual confidence.

Good comeback by Armenian High Court