Foreign Ministry sources say the reference in an Armenian court decision to a declaration rejecting even the questioning of the 1915 killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire is against the essence of the normalization process with Yerevan

A top Armenian court’s reference to the 1915 killings of Armenians in its reasoned decision about the constitutionality of protocols that could pave the way for diplomatic relations with Turkey has drawn ire from Ankara.

“It has been observed that this decision contains preconditions and restrictive provisions that impair the objective and spirit of the protocols,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement late Monday. “This approach cannot be accepted on our part.”

The Armenian court’s Jan. 12 decision established that the protocols with Turkey conform to the country’s constitution, but Article 5 of its six-page reasoned decision makes reference to Armenia’s Declaration of Independence in a way that has provoked Turkey.

“The RA Constitutional Court also finds that the provisions of the Protocol on Development of Relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey cannot be interpreted or applied in the legislative process and application practice of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the interstate relations in a way that would contradict the provisions of the Preamble to the RA Constitution and the requirements of Paragraph 11 of the Declaration of Independence of Armenia,” read the non-official English translation of the court’s reasoning.

More precisely, the court decision stipulated that the agreement must not contradict Paragraph 11 of the Declaration of Independence, which is the section that angered Ankara. It states, “The Republic of Armenia stands in support of the task of achieving international recognition of the 1915 Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia.”

Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said the court’s reference to a declaration rejecting even the questioning of the 1915 killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire is against the essence of the normalization process with Yerevan.

The protocols signed between the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia in Zurich in October 2009 included the establishment of a sub-commission to look into the 1915 events. Ankara now says the Armenian court’s reasoning contradicts fundamental aspects of the protocols and is putting a precondition on normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.

“Turkey, in line with its accustomed allegiance to international commitments, maintains its adherence to the primary provisions of the protocols. We expect the same allegiance from the Armenian government,” the Foreign Ministry said in its statement.

Karabakh link

Another source of uneasiness in Ankara is Article 4 of the court reasoning, which stipulates that the mutual obligations being undertaken by the protocols are under the principles of international law, exclusively of a bilateral interstate nature and cannot concern any third party. That provision is interpreted as a neutralization of Turkey’s linking the opening of the border with Armenia to a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

“We have launched a process of normalization in relations with Armenia and in good faith taken steps that include the signing of the protocols,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “We have often expressed our views about what the necessary conditions are for the maintenance of peace and stability in the Caucasus.”

The Turkish government submitted the protocols to Parliament, but they have not been submitted for ratification because they depend on the progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh territorial conflict. This conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan was tied to the normalization process after Turkish leaders warned it would be hard to pass the protocols without any progress toward a resolution to the Karabakh issue. Ankara says the ball is in Armenia’s court now.

Burcu Gültekin Punsmann, a Caucasus expert at the Turkish think tank TEPAV, said the diplomatic agreements were a product of consensus between the states concerned and argued that the Armenian constitutional court’s reasoning was putting limits on points for which the sides had already reached an agreement.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and their border has been closed since 1993, after Armenia’s invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani territory. The foreign ministers of both countries signed two protocols in October 2009 in Zurich. The first, covering the establishment of diplomatic relations, and the second, on the further development of bilateral relations, are accompanied by an annex that sets a clear timetable for the implementation of both protocols.

Armenian party slams Ankara’s reaction as ‘factitious’

An official from the ruling Armenian Republican Party has called the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s reaction to the Armenian court reasoning a “factitious” excuse to delay the signing of the protocols, the Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday.

The party group’s secretary in parliament, Eduard Şarmazanov, said the court would not take any steps that contradict the country’s constitution.

Armenia’s Democratic Party leader, Aram Sarkisian, said the court decision was correcting the mistakes made by the Armenian Foreign Ministry. “Turkey could slow down the negotiations and even reject the protocols,” the news agency quoted him as saying. “We need to understand that we should act in line with our country’s interests.”

Source: Hurriyet Daily News
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-frustrated-with-genocide-reference-in-armenia-court-reasoning-2010-01-19

Filed under: Armenian Claims, Armenian-Azerbaijan Conflict, The Armenian Diaspora, Turkish Press, Turkish-Armenian Relations