Ten Reasons Why Turks Won't Allow Their Leaders to Ratify
the Protocols
17-02-2010 10:35:00 | USA | Articles and Analyses
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, NOYAN TAPAN. In earlier columns, I
pointed out Turkey's deceptive designs in negotiating and
signing the Protocols with Armenia on October 10, 2009.
In addition to planning to deceive Armenia and
international public opinion, Turkish leaders tried to mislead
their closest ally, Azerbaijan, and the Turkish public, about
the potential benefits of the Protocols. Even though the
Protocols were clearly in Turkey’s interest, its leaders tried
to oversell the benefits of the negotiated agreement in order to
overcome possible objections from critics at home and abroad,
particularly Azerbaijan.
As expected, the Erdogan government did get into trouble
with Azerbaijan when Pres. Ilham Aliyev complained loudly that
by planning to open the border with Armenia, Turkey would be
abandoning its "Little Brother" which would remove the key
incentive for Armenia to negotiate the return of Karabagh
(Artsakh). Azerbaijani officials, not appeased by Turkish
assurances, retaliated by tripling the price of gas exported to
Turkey, taking down Turkish flags from public places, banning
Turkish movies and songs from Azeri TV, and shutting down
Turkish-financed mosques in Baku!
Meanwhile, opposition forces in Turkey, seeing a golden
opportunity to diminish Prime Minister Erdogan's Parliamentary
majority, immediately accused him of betraying Turkey's national
interests by siding with their perennial Armenian enemies,
rather than with their Azeri brothers!
In order to counter such accusations, Turkish leaders were
forced to make a series of unsubstantiated claims, exaggerating
the benefits of the Protocols to both Azerbaijan and Turkey.
They assured the Azeris that they would pressure Armenia into
returning Artsakh to Azerbaijan before the Turkish Parliament
would ratify the Protocols and normalize relations with Armenia.
Furthermore, Turkish officials reassured their own public that
the Protocols would put an end to "Armenian claims" of genocide
and territorial demands in Eastern Turkey.
The Turkish and Azeri publics were not fooled by Ankara’s
misrepresentation of the Protocols. Here are ten major reasons
why the Turkish Parliament could refuse to ratify the Protocols:
1) Despite repeated announcements by Gul, Erdogan and
Davutoglu that the resolution of the Artsakh conflict is a
precondition for the ratification of the Protocols, the United
States, Russia, the European Union as well as Armenia have
repeatedly pointed out that there is no such stipulation in the
Protocols. In addition, they have counseled against linking the
two issues or holding hostage the negotiations on the Artsakh
conflict to the ratification of the Protocols. Armenia has
steadfastly refused to link the Protocols to the Artsakh issue.
2) There is no truth to the Turkish claim that the
Protocols would put an end to Armenia's pursuit of genocide
recognition and its acknowledgment by third countries. It is
also untrue that the Protocols would set up a mechanism for the
study of the Armenian Genocide. In fact, the Protocols have
triggered renewed efforts by Armenians in recent weeks to seek
acknowledgment of the Genocide by the British, Bulgarian,
Israeli and Swedish Parliaments. Moreover, the U.S. House
Foreign Affairs Committee has scheduled a vote on the Armenian
Genocide resolution on March 4. A similar resolution is pending
in the U.S. Senate.
3) Contrary to Turkish assertions, the "historical
commission" mentioned in the Protocols would serve not as a
genocide review board, but as a platform for Armenia to present
demands for restitution from Turkey.
4) The Turkish claim that the Protocols would end Armenian
territorial demands is belied by the fact that no mention is
made of any past treaty that requires Armenia to renounce such
rights. Rather than abandoning Artsakh or Western Armenia, Pres.
Sargsyan raised for the first time in his last week remarks the
depopulation of the Armenian region of Nakhichevan, after Soviet
authorities relinquished it to Azerbaijan.
5) Armenia and the major powers have rejected Turkish
demands that the Armenian Constitutional Court "correct" its
January 12, 2010 ruling which limited Turkey’s exaggerated
interpretations of the Protocols. The Court insisted that the
pursuit of Genocide recognition cannot be abandoned, and
Artsakh’s status cannot be negotiated with Turkey due to the
bilateral nature of the Protocols.
6) Turkish leaders have no reason to protest against the
Armenian Court’s reference to the Preamble of the Constitution
on pursuing the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This
Preamble is based on Article 11 of Armenia’s Declaration of
Independence which has existed since 1990, long before Turkey
first opened its border with Armenia. Indeed, Turkey's leaders
were well aware of this provision before signing the Protocols
in 2009.
7) Turkish officials have falsely stated that the Protocols
acknowledge the Treaty of Kars of 1921, which Soviet Armenia was
forced to sign. There is no reference to the Kars Treaty in the
Protocols. Furthermore, the Constitutional Court of Armenia
ruled that only those treaties that have been ratified by the
present Republic of Armenia are valid.
8) Rather than achieving its lofty objective of
"zero-problems with neighbors," the Turkish government, by
signing the Protocols, has created a serious rift with
neighboring Azerbaijan, where no problem existed before!
9) It is noteworthy that Turkish officials have not
expressed any objection to Armenia’s demand that Turkey be the
first to ratify the Protocols. This is a humiliating imposition
on Turkey as it implies -- for good reason -- Armenia's lack of
trust in Turkey!
10) Likewise, Turkish leaders have not responded to
Armenia’s threat to rescind its signature should Turkey not
ratify the Protocols by the end of March -- one month before
April 24! This is yet another humiliating imposition by Armenia
on a country whose leaders espouse grandiose neo-Ottoman
fantasies!
The foregoing 10 points demonstrate a serious credibility
gap between the Turkish government and its own public as well as
the international community. Ankara has tried to deceive
everyone within and outside Turkey by creating the false
impression of wanting to normalize relations with Armenia.
Turkish officials have no one but themselves to blame for this
predicament. They thought that by bluffing they could extract
more concessions from Armenia! It did not work. They have now
fallen in their own trap and no one is too eager to rescue them!
By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier