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| Armenia’s ruling parties back Turkish ties |
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Saturday, October 03, 2009
YEREVAN: Armenia’s ruling coalition on Friday backed establishing relations with Turkey after decades of hostility, in a crucial show of support for sensitive government moves to forge ties with Ankara.
The Republican, Prosperous Armenia and Rule of Law parties, which together hold an overwhelming majority in parliament, praised the reconciliation efforts and urged others to back the government’s stance.
“The Armenian state has shown courage... regarding the future of our country and the improving of ties between the two countries,” the parties said in a joint statement.
“We welcome such a policy and urge all citizens of Armenia, all political and social organisations, as well as all Armenians around the world, to create the necessary conditions for this process to be successfully carried out.”
The two countries currently have no diplomatic relations, a closed border and a long history of hostility rooted in massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Turks during World War I. The coalition said establishing ties with Turkey would not undermine Armenia’s efforts to have the massacres internationally recognised as genocide — a label that Ankara strongly rejects.
“It is evident that this process does not mean a disregard for the past or a questioning of the fact of the Armenian genocide,” the statement said.
The ruling coalition’s support practically guarantees the approval of two protocols on establishing ties with Turkey and developing bilateral relations that are expected to be presented to parliament this month.
Under a deal announced in late August, Armenia and Turkey agreed to hold six weeks of internal political consultations before presenting the two protocols to their respective parliaments for approval.
Turkish officials said last week that foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey and Eduard Nalbandian of Armenia will meet in Switzerland on October 10 to ink the two protocols, but Armenian officials have not confirmed the meeting.
The deal has come under fire from opposition groups in both countries, which accuse their governments of making too many concessions.
But it has been widely praised internationally. After talks with the two countries’ foreign ministers this week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the efforts to normalise ties.
The United States and European Union have repeatedly urged both countries to reconcile.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of modern Turkey, was falling apart.
Turkey rejects the genocide label, saying between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up arms in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading Russian troops.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
