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**Haykakan** · 09-28-2009, 09:55 AM

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

By now i think we all know LTP will say and do anything to become president again and sell out our country. Even if the protocals stay as they are they still strengthen Armenia in my opinion. The open borders will help Armenia economicly and they will take away the Ace card from the Azeris in the kharabagh conflict making a solution favorable to Armenia more likely. Any improvements or less preconditions would be a welcome sight but either way i think you guys all know why i think even this deal is a deal Armenia should take.

**Federate** · 09-28-2009, 10:00 AM

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Oskanian says he�s ready to lead a �popular wave�

Yerevan - Vartan Oskanian, who served as foreign minister of Armenia from 1998 through 2008, and has been a consistent critic of Armenia-Turkey soccer diplomacy, considers it possible to stop the process only if "there is a popular wave of protest, and the authorities feel that they are going against the people's will."

"I am prepared to be on the forefront of the popular wave, so that we can persuade our authorities that what they are doing is against the people's will. If you ask how this is going to be done, I don't have an answer. But I am ready to examine the issue with political forces and participate," he said on September 22 at a forum organized by the Civilitas Foundation, of which he is the founder.

Referring to the protocols on Armenia-Turkey relations unveiled on August 31, he said, "Reading these documents, you reach the unequivocal conclusion that they have been negotiated somewhere, with the participation of the Turks, and have been imposed on the Armenian side. Or else, the Armenian side has actually participated in the negotiations, but it has been deeply inspired and convinced of the view that Armenia's entire future, its future development depends entirely on the opening of the Armenian-Turkish frontier."

Mr. Oskanian said he was reminded of the situation in late 1997, when it was said that Armenia could no longer develop, and unless the Karabakh issue was resolved immediately, Armenia would face an existential threat. He said the same attitude has been revived, and we are told that if the Armenia-Turkey border is not opened, the country will have no future.

"That is not so. Our country has great potential for development. That does not mean we should avoid signing documents with the Turks, or should not have normal relations with them. But all this must be achieved calmly, among equals, without rushing, without outside imposition," he said.

Mr. Oskanian noted that the Turkish blockade of Armenia was intended to starve Armenians into concessions in Karabakh, and that it has failed in this purpose. Now, he continued, "Turkey wants to come out of the corner it has painted itself into. It looks like it has found the way: It is doing so at our expense. It wants to open the border, but it's the Armenian side making the concessions."

"The Turks are being given everything they have wanted for 17 years," Mr. Oskanian said.

- The AM Reporter

http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2009-09-26-oskanian-says-he-s-ready-to-lead-a--popular-wave-

Read at The AM Reporter

**KarotheGreat** · 09-28-2009, 12:08 PM

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

Reaction: Yerevan warns Ankara against linking normalization process with Karabakh

In a rare reaction released by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry late on Friday, Minister Edward Nalbandyan warned Turkey that linking the continuing rapprochement between the two countries with progress in a separate Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh could ruin both.

Nalbandyan was reacting to the most recent statement made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the Armenian-Turkish border will not be opened until the Karabakh conflict is solved.

“The Turkish side is informed, and we are confident that they realize that we exclude the conditioning of the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations by the steps towards the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” Nalbandyan said in his reply also posted on the Ministry’s official website (www.armeniaforeignministry.com).

“Trying to link those two processes could ruin one and the other. A number of countries, including the Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, have expressed the same position. They have repeatedly stated that the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations must be without preconditions.”

Nalbandyan said that “with this mutual understanding we have started and conducted negotiations and came to agreements reflected in the initialed protocols.”

“If the Turkish authorities have problems with the signing of documents, they should not try to solve them by distorting the spirit, essence and goals of the initialed documents. The signing and implementation of agreed documents is a difficult process. Nevertheless, Armenia is ready to respect the agreements and go forward.”

In his statement Nalbandyan also reacted to Erdogan’s remarks made during an interview with a number of Turkish media editors-in-chief on September 17 that “Armenia must be freed from the influence of its powerful Diaspora.”

Nalbandyan said: “If the authorities of modern Turkey are not ready today to recognize the fact of the Genocide perpetrated in the Ottoman Empire, they are at least obliged to respect the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and their descendants.”

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**Haykakan** · 09-28-2009, 01:24 PM

Re: Armenian-Turkish Relations

All this makes sence thus far. As i pointed out earlier, kharabagh is the big issue the Armenian government won't compromise on because the leaders of Armenia are kharabaghtsis. From recent remarks it sounds to me Oskanian is readying a platform for his future political career. I wont be surprised if he runs for office next term.

**Mukuch** · 09-29-2009, 04:30 PM