Turkish Officials Admit To Playing Games With Protocols

With each passing day, the games Turkish officials have been playing with the Protocols are becoming more obvious and ridiculous!

Throughout the long months of negotiations, I repeatedly warned that Turkish officials were not sincere in their announced intention of opening the border with Armenia and establishing diplomatic relations. By acting as if they were seeking reconciliation with Armenia, Turkish leaders simply wanted to prevent further acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide by third countries, extract maximum concessions from Armenia on Artsakh (Karabagh), and block future territorial demands from Turkey.

Turkey first dragged out the negotiations until right before April 24 to preclude Pres. Obama from keeping his promise on recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The Protocols were finally signed on October 10, to ensure that Pres. Sargsyan does go to Turkey to attend the soccer match between the national teams of the two countries.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s leaders were repeatedly announcing that they would not open the border and their Parliament would not ratify the Protocols until Armenia returned Artsakh to Azerbaijan — even though there is no such requirement in the signed documents. More than a month has now passed since the signing of the Protocols in Zurich, but there are no signs that the Turkish Parliament would ratify them anytime soon.

Just before signing the Protocols, Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu traveled to Azerbaijan to pledge once again that they had no intention of opening the border with Armenia until Artsakh was returned to Azerbaijan.

As if these outrageous pre-conditions were not sufficient to shake Armenians’ confidence in the Protocols, Turkish officials made no attempt to hide their deceptive designs.

The October 5th issue of the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet quoted Foreign Ministry officials in Ankara as stating: “The formation of a joint history commission and re-opening the border are included in the documents. However, they can be put into effect only after a solution is found to the Karabakh issue. Without a solution to the Karabakh conflict, these protocols cannot be transferred to Parliament. Even then, Parliament would not adopt it. So, relax.”

To convince the Azerbaijanis that Turkey had no plans to ratify the Protocols, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials boasted about their success in deceiving Europeans on another agreement: “Turkey had to sign a protocol with the European Union on the Cyprus issue. What happened? Did Turkey open its seaports and airports to Cypriot vessels and airplanes, after four years?

We now have solid evidence that these Turkish officials were not making an idle boast when they indicated that signing an agreement means nothing to them. In the Oct. 25 issue of “Today’s Zaman,” commentator Ercan Yavuz cited dozens of examples of agreements signed by Turkey, but not ratified, after the passage of many years! At present, there are 146 agreements with 95 countries, including Argentina, Azerbaijan, Libya, Slovenia, Sweden, and Syria, awaiting the approval of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission. The oldest — an agreement signed 26 years ago between Iraq and Turkey — is still pending ratification by the Turkish Parliament. Many other important agreements have been signed since 2004, but still not ratified!

Given the Turkish record of not taking seriously commitments made on behalf of their country, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that the Turkish Parliament would not ratify the Armenia-Turkey Protocols anytime soon. Of course, by not ratifying the Protocols, Turkey would be breaking its written pledge of August 31, to ratify the Protocols in a “timely” manner.

Interestingly, Armenia’s Foreign Minster Edward Nalbandian, in a recent interview with Reuters, asked: “Why sign the Protocols, if they are not going to be ratified?” The answer is obvious: The Turkish government is interested in creating a positive image for itself in front of the international community by appearing to want “good neighborly relations” with Armenia, without actually taking any concrete steps to do so.

Armenia’s officials are sadly mistaken if they believe that Turkey would come under intense international pressure, should it not ratify the protocols. Time and again, Turkey has proven its immunity from pressures applied by other countries, including the United States, as was the case on the eve of the Iraq war when Turkey refused to allow U.S. Troops to cross its borders to enter Iraq.

If pressured from outside, Turkish leaders would simply blame Armenia, by pointing out that it has not made any concessions on Artsakh, thereby making it impossible for the Turkish Parliament to ratify the Protocols.

Armenian officials have repeatedly stated that the Artsakh negotiations are unrelated to the Protocols and that the Armenian Parliament would not ratify the Protocols before Turkey, adding that they would scrap the agreement, if Turkey failed to act in a “timely” manner.

It remains to be seen whether Armenia would keep its pledge of not making any territorial concessions on Artsakh; and should Turkey refuse to ratify the Protocols after the lapse of several months, would Armenia’s leaders have the courage to declare the signed Protocols null and void?

Turkish Author Reveals Armenian, Kurdish Massacres in Modern Turkey

ANKARA (Hurriyet)—In the late 1930s, the nascent Turkish Republic massacred a village of Kurds and Armenian Genocide Survivors under the guise of an operation against a fabricated Kurdish rebellion, previously unseen photographs, historically important documents and eye-witness accounts reveal.

Hasan Saltuk the author of a new 600-page book said his research seeks to unravel the taboo of the Dersim Massacres.

Set to be released in May in both English and Turkish, the book will challenge the official history of the incident, using primary sources to reveal the government’s role in the brutal massacre of this Kurdish village in the formative years of the modern Turkish Republic.

“Over 13,000 people were killed by Turkish armed forces during the operation and 22,000 were exiled. Orphaned children were subjected to Turkification policies in orphanages,” Saltuk said.

The official historical sources say the 1938 operation in Dersim, now called Tunceli, was implemented to quash a Kurdish tribal rebellion. Saltuk’s research, however, reveals otherwise.

“We see in the documents that the Dersim operation was planned; the reports were prepared in 1920. The law related to the operation was passed in 1935 and action was taken in 1937. Seyit Rıza and his friends were hanged on grounds that they were leading a rebellion,” Saltuk said.

Although the government at the time labeled it a Kurdish tribal insurrection, Saltuk said the fundamental reason behind the operation was that the region was home to Tunceli Alevis who were merely Armenian Genocide survivors that had changed their identities.

“The official sources say Dersim residents were not paying taxes or performing military service and that they were always rebelling. However, we have documents proving the opposite. Ataturk led the Dersim operation himself,” he said.

“Historians here cannot go beyond the official ideology; they do not do any research. Those who do research and know the truth cannot raise a voice because they are afraid,” Saltuk said.

The book reprints the comments he found on the back of all the photographs he obtained. In many cases, the comments expressed remorse for the events in Dersim. “[Many] felt qualms of conscience for what was experienced. Some expressed their feelings with the words, ‘I have become a murderer.’ Others wrote, ‘I caused the deaths of 250 people,’” Saltuk said.

The project involved following the trails of surviving soldiers who participated in the operation, Saltuk said, adding that he saw many who were unable to adapt to social life. “Many soldiers we [interviewed] demanded their names be made public after their deaths. A few people did not mind having their names in the book; some said, ‘They ordered us to kill and we did,’” he said.

He obtained hundreds of original photos and maps alongside two dossiers of population records from the grandchild – whose name Saltuk withheld – of a high level civil servant from that era. “The invaluable documents and photographs in the dossiers reveal the operation in all its detail. However, it is without doubt that much more striking files are in the archives of the Turkish General Staff.”

Saltuk, who is the owner of the Kalan record label, a researcher and an ethnomusicologist, has spent nine years collecting previously unseen photographs, historically important documents and comments from soldiers who participated in the operation..

A member of one of the oldest families of Dersim, Saltuk said that even though he was from a Turkmen tribe on his father’s side, dozens of their relatives were murdered during the operation.

“My grandmother was pregnant with my mother but she saved herself from the firing squad at the last minute,” Saltuk said in an interview with the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “Dersim residents are still afraid to talk. The elderly still think somebody’s going to come and kill them.”

Saltuk said he believes that Turkey has entered an age of great change. “All the taboos of this country will be broken and, in the future, there will not be anything that cannot be spoken about.”

US Ties Protocols to Karabakh

ANKARA (Combined Sources)—The Obama Administration doubts Turkey’s parliament will ratify agreements with Armenia to normalize relations and open borders unless progress registered in the protracted Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon said Friday on an official visit to the Turkish capital, the Turkish Milliyet daily newspaper reported.

“It will be difficult for the Turkish parliament to ratify the protocols signed with Armenia unless there is improvement in Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” Gordon said at a press conference, the Azeri Press Agency reported.

The US envoy was in Ankara meeting with top Turkish officials ahead of scheduled visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the United States on December 7.  Erdogan is set to meet with US President Barack Obama for talks on a wide range of issues around Turkey’s growing influence in the Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia.

During his visit, Gordon also expressed U.S. concerns over Turkey’s growing ties with Syria and Iran.

Gordon said Washington was also “dissatisfied with Erdogan’s refusal to adhere to an indictment by the International Criminal Court against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Erdogan’s government had refused to arrest the leader–who is wanted for war crimes in Darfur—during a scheduled visit to Turkey to attend a regional conference.

The US Envoy underscored Washington’s calls on Ankara to cooperate more closely with Washington in solving international problems.

Ter-Petrosian Aligns Himself with Sarkisian

Armenian National Congress leader Levon Ter-Petrosian, in a speech to his supporters on Wednesday, said his party was ready—in principle—to recognize Serzh Sarkisian’s legitimacy if the president agreed to cooperate with his group on challenges facing Armenia. In his remarks, Ter-Petrosian also defended some aspects of Sarkisian’s policy on Armenia-Turkey relations and attacked the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and other “extreme nationalists” for their opposition to the protocols process.

Ter-Petrosian criticized the ARF for asserting that by signing the protocols the Sarkisian administration has relinquished its right to demand reparations and territorial claims resulting from the Genocide. Ter-Petrosian claimed that such a posturing has allowed Sarkisian to “present himself to the world as a realistic and resolute statesman worthy of the 21st century.”

The former president said that the principle of “historical rights” was unacceptable within the context of international relations and norms, adding that ARF’s positions, which he characterized as calling for “Turkey’s unconditional capitulation” are aimed at aborting the normalization process, which he said was extremely critical for Armenia.

Ter-Petrosian said he prefers the normalization to take place on the basis of mutual concessions and a display of good will, stressing that for his Armenian National Congress the only unacceptable provision of the protocols was the creation of a historical commission, which he said, will cast doubt on the veracity of the Genocide. He also explained that the commission would alienate the Diaspora, whose existence depends on the Genocide recognition issue. He added that it was “unfortunate” that the Diaspora was so focused on the Genocide issue, since he would prefer for the Diaspora to exert its energy on strengthening Armenia’s statehood.

Ter-Petrosian downplayed Sarkisian’s role in some of what the ARF and others have been criticizing him for and instead shifted the blame to Robert Kocharian, Vartan Oskanian and through his own distorted view of history he accused the ARF of relinquishing territorial claims by adhering to the Kars Treaty. Ter-Petrosian said that Sarkisian inherited the territorial issues, as well as the so-called “Madrid Principles,” on which the Karabakh peace process is based from his predecessors.

The former president reiterated his firm assertions that Sarkisian has made “unforgivable” concessions in order to gain support from the West, at a time when he lacked domestic legitimacy. While repeating his call for Sarkisian’s resignation, Ter-Petrosian signaled that it was not too late for Sarkisian to seek legitimacy by agreeing to cooperate with his forces.

Two top Armenian National Congress officials confirmed that Ter-Petrosian’s speech was, in fact, a call for cooperation.

The ARF’s political director Giro Manoyan on Thursday hit back at Ter-Petrosian saying his overtures to Sarkisian have displaced him as a top opposition leader.

Manoyan also said that Ter-Petrosian was willing to make a deal with his long-time adversary because he supports the defeatist protocols and sees no role for himself as an opposition force and is eager to ensure his survival in the political arena.

Perhaps his own accusation that Sarkisian’s concessions were made to secure legitimacy from the West is propelling his current stance, which he emphasized was the only genuine political assessment of the current situation in Armenia.

For a historian, Ter-Petrosian demonstrated quite a skewed grasp on historical facts beginning with his accusation that the ARF signed the Kars Treaty and concluding with his now militant opposition to the historical commission.

He seems to have forgotten that what led to his resignation was his willingness and readiness to relinquish land for a Western-backed peace deal for Karabakh. Who can forget his ill-conceived Meghri-Lachin land swap deal?

It’s glaringly evident that the person seeking legitimacy is Ter-Petrosian himself. His polarizing rhetoric, which contradicted his own presidential policies, has reached a dead end and he must now sit down with his former defense and interior minister Serzh Sarkisian to discuss what else but the Turkish-Armenia rapprochement, which was a focal point of his own failed policies, of course with the requisite vitriol directed at the ARF.

Gunaysu: Kurdish MP challenges Turkish Parliament on Armenian Genocide

These were the words articulated at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) by Selahattin Demirtas, the deputy chairman of the parliamentary group of Democratic Society Party (DTP)—the voice of Kurds in the Turkish Parliament. Demirtas had taken the floor at the parliamentary session on Oct. 21 to speak about the protocols signed between Armenia and Turkey.

“No national security considerations can be an excuse for the annihilation of a population by means of forced displacement and massacres,” he said. “Governments, in an effort to clear themselves of the guilt, resorted to denial and to distortion of historical facts to conceal the truth. They rewrote the history. In school books, Armenians are portrayed as hostile figures, exaggerating the incidents of violence by Armenian activists and never telling the truth about the massacred Armenians.”

The meeting minutes, available on the website of the TGNA, reveals the interruptions by other deputies, member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the opposition party Republican People’s Party (CHP), and an independent deputy, who called out loud: “What are you talking about? Say what you want to say openly!” or “Shame on you!” or “Don’t slander” or “What about the Turkish diplomats assassinated?”

“The word ‘Armenian’ has been used as an insult in this country,” continued Demirtas. “Even the president of the Republic of Turkey was accused of having secret Armenian ancestors, as if this was a sin. They did this to humiliate him. And what a shame that the president himself answered this ‘accusation’ in such a way as to confirm the humiliating connotation of the word, by trying to prove that this was not true.”

Demirtas suggested the formation of a history committee, consisting of independent historians from both sides, that would aim at revealing historic truths. “Without doing this, no real policy of peace can be pursued in foreign or domestic policy and no real resolution can be reached by ignoring the tragedy, by acting as if the loss of lives was a result of unwanted adverse circumstances. I know that what I say upsets those who remain loyal to the status quo. However for us to avoid recognizing historical truths just for the sake of the status quo would mean betraying our conscience and taking a politically unethical stance. So Turkey should lead the way to uncover the historical facts instead of continuing to carry the burden of a tragedy caused by the Committee of Union and Progress. In order for truly friendly relations between the two countries, it should be acknowledged that this is the only way for mutual trust.”

This was a first for the Turkish Parliament. There may be parts in Demirtas’ speech where one would disagree. But for me, these points of disagreement are less important than the declaration— in the Turkish Grand National Assembly—of the systematic extermination of Armenians in 1915. And it was a Kurdish MP who made this happen. The Kurds, some of whom actively took part in the Armenian Genocide, were also the first in Turkey to talk and write about the genocide of the Armenians and Assyrians.

Demirtas’s words weren’t in the headlines the next day as one would expect; those days were unusually exciting, as a group of PKK guerillas had just crossed the border and given themselves up to Turkish security forces as a gesture to support the government’s peace initiative. TV channels and newspapers were full of scenes of rejoicing and celebrations by thousands of Kurds, old and young, women and men, all welcoming the peace group. The guerillas waved their hands to the crowds, who were joyously demonstrating for peace. A few days passed with puzzlement on the part of the Turkish public and the opinion makers. However, the puzzlement did not last long. A wave of anger surged with columnists condemning such “scenes of outright defiance,” “celebrations of PKK’s victory,” or “shameless display of support to PKK.” Then came the demonstrations of the “mothers of martyrs” and others condemning the PKK. The panel discussions on TV featured even democrat and liberal figures criticizing the DTP for rallying Kurds to celebrate the PKK guerillas’ return and provoking Turkish nationalism.

Just when Demirtas was giving his speech about the Armenia-Turkey protocols, I was called by Agos newspaper to comment on the coming of the PKK group as a peace delegation. I sent them a message saying, in short, that I did not trust Turkey. I explained that given the age-old authoritarian nationalistic policies pursued by governments, instigating hostility and hatred in the minds of people, no real peace policy would be possible. The majority of the Turkish people themselves would not let this dream come true. Although this was what I thought, I still had the hope that this time I might be wrong, that some good things could happen in this country. The pictures in the newspapers, the images on  TV of old men and women welcoming the PKK members at the Habur border gate—dancing, waving hands, laughing, and cheerin—were so impressive that one could not help but hope.

But Turkey did not put me down and once more not my dreams but my fears came true. The government suspended the peace program and said that the coming of PKK members from European countries was cancelled due to the Kurds’ provocative welcoming demonstrations. Shortly after this news, Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK , announced that they too had suspended the process.

Now all advocates of peace are waiting for a new sign indicating the resumption of the peace process. Turkey’s lack of any tradition of reconciliation and it’s deeply rooted authoritarian habits of resorting to violence instead of understanding did its job again.

A Kurdish intellectual’s comprehensive work about the genocide

Speaking about the Kurdish intellectuals and activists who first talked and wrote about the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, I have to mention the book of Recep Marasli, who was one of the victims of the horrible tortures at Diyarbakir Prison in the 1980’s and who served 15 years in various prisons.

In the preface to his book Ermeni Ulusal Demokratik Hareketive 1915 Soykirimi (The Armenian National Democratic Movement and 1915 Genocide) (Peri Publishing House, 2008, Istanbul), Marasli writes how he first wrote about the Armenian Genocide in 1982, when he was in the Alemdag Prison. It was the first and worst years of the military rule. At the same time, it was a time when Turkish diplomats were assassinated one by one by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia, and anti-Armenian sentiments were at their peak in Turkey, provoked by the insulting headlines in Turkish newspapers. In the Diyarbakir Prison, those inmates suspected of being of Armenian origin were subjected to special violence, and there were incidents of forced circumcision. During these days, Recep Marasli with a number of his fellow prisoners secretly prepared and circulated a pamphlet about the Armenian Genocide in the Alemdag Prison. This pamphlet would later serve as the outline of his present book. He thinks it may well be the first structured writing about the Armenian Genocide in Kurdish circles in modern Turkish history. Some of the Kurdish inmates found it irrelevant to the circumstances of the day (as the central issue for them was the Kurdish Question); some even thought that Marasli was of Armenian origin. This pamphlet was a turning point in Marasli’s efforts on the topic. Marasli and his comrades circulated the leaflets in prison every April 24th to commemorate the genocide, and Marasli started to read everything he could find about the genocide. Afterwards, he integrated the contents of the first pamphlet in his defense statement, which was submitted during his trial in Diyarbakir Military Court for his membership in the Kurdish political organization Rizgari. He developed this piece of writing later on during his imprisonment, served in the prisons of Eskisehir and Aydin, and finally produced this comprehensive 544-page book about the Armenian Genocide, its historical background, its mechanism, and its aftermath—the
Turkification policies in the republican period up to the present day. At the end of the book, there is a very interesting list of the old and new names of Kurdish, Armenian ,and Assyrian settlements which I think is a precious resource in this respect.

To go back to our starting point, Selahattin Demirtas’ address in the TGNA was something one can never expect from a Turkish member of parliament, at least under present conditions. I think much has to be done to explore the factors that bring the grandchildren of the peoples of the old Armenia and Kurdistan closer to each other now. Such exploration and efforts to build on the  findings would help a lot in paving the way for a more democratic Turkey that would bring justice to all.

Ancient Armenian Church to Reopen in Turkey

GESSARIA, Turkey (Combined Sources)—The St. Gregory the Illuminator Church is scheduled to be reopened during special ceremony and Mass on November 8, community representative announced and the Turkish Radikal newspaper reported Tuesday.

Church renovations, which were funded through donations from local Turkish-Armenians, were recently completed and were a major undertaking entirely funded by the Armenian community.

Zadik Toker, head of the St. Gregory the Illuminator Church Foundation, said the church’s roof was leaking before the renovation and that the last maintenance work for the building was done back in 1990. He said the paintings on the walls were also renovated.

Gov. Mevlut Bilici, Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mehmet Ozhaseki and Police Chief Arif Akkale have been invited to the opening.

In reporting the news of the opening, the Turkish Hurriyet daily, quoting sources from Radikal, attempted to show a connection between the current Armenia-Turkey rapprochement and the church opening.

In a letter to the editor, the chairman of the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate Religious Council, Archbishop Aram Ateshian, emphasized that plans to renovate the church were made long before the roadmap and protocol processes began.

Arch. Ateshian also emphasized that the Armenian community of Turkey has been in existence and has undertaken similar projects long before Armenia was even an independent republic.

Prime Minister Says Sarkisian Won’t Make Concessions

STEPANAKERT (Combined Sources)—Ara Harutyunyan, the Prime Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, on Monday ruled out the possibility that Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian would make territorial concessions in the Karabakh peace process in order to normalize relations with Turkey, arguing that “every step” Sarkisian makes “is well balanced and reasoned.”

Harutyunyan’s remarks come amid a period of heightened tension and uncertainty surrounding the fate of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, with Armenia under pressure from the international community to normalize its relations with a stubborn Turkey unwilling to open its borders until the Karabakh conflict is resolved in Azerbaijan’s favor.

He said his party, “Azat Hayrenik,” which boasts the largest faction in the Karabakh legislature, “absolutely trusts” Sarkisian’s ability to negotiate with Turkey and Azerbaijan. “His 20-years if experience makes us believe that every step that President of Armenia makes is well-balanced and reasoned.”

Harutyunyan himself seemed to welcome the prospects of open borders with Turkey, saying he believed that normal relations between Armenia and Turkey will “enable the country to develop” and “Armenia’s economic development implies Karabakh’s as well.”

The Karabakh premier, however, maintained that relations should be normalized without preconditions. “Opening of the border does not mean that the preconditions and claims are accepted,” he added, referring to Turkey’s demands on Armenia to make concessions to Azerbaijan in the Karabakh peace process.

International mediators working through the OSCE Minsk Group are to present Armenia and Azerbaijan with updated principles for a settlement to the Karabakh conflict that is expected to require, among other things, a return to Azerbaijani control of nearly all the liberated territories of Karabakh and a population transfer into Karabakh of Azeri refuges. According to the plan, Karabakh will then be required to hold another referendum to decide its future status.

President Sarkisian has signaled his overall acceptance of this formula. But according to Harutyunyan, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is “not ready” to make territorial concessions to Azerbaijan.

“Karabakh’s territory is the territory stipulated by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Constitution and we are not ready to make any concessions in this regard. By ‘the territory’ we mean the present actual territory of Artsakh. This is our standpoint and we will stick to it,” he said.

“Both Karabakh and Armenia’s Presidents have stated that any document that would be signed by both authorities would only be signed with the approval of the nation,” he said. “We have no right to doubt this, as the people have the final say.”

But the Karabakh government has yet to officially receive the updated document, Harutyunyan said. “We know about them [the principles] only from press and news, which cannot be considered as document.”

Sarkisian Says Protocols Won’t Affect Genocide Recognition, Karabakh Resolution

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–President Serzh Sarkisian continued to defend his conciliatory policy on Turkey on Monday, reiterating that his administration will not stop seeking international recognition of the Armenian genocide or make additional concessions to Azerbaijan.

He made the assurances at the Echmiadzin headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church while attending a meeting of top clerical and secular representatives of its worldwide dioceses that was chaired by His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II.

Sarkisian delivered a speech there before answering questions from the participants. Statements issued by the president’s and the Catholicos’s offices following the event mainly related to Armenia’s fence-mending protocols with Turkey and the current state of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In a written statement, the presidential press service cited Sarkisian as saying that the signing of the protocols “does not mean, in any way, a renunciation of efforts at international recognition of the Genocide.”

Sarkisian has significantly complicated those efforts by accepting a Turkish proposal to set up a joint panel that would look into the events of the Armenian Genocide. Ankara has long sought such a commission to exploit the existence to prevent more countries from recognizing its crime against the Armenian people.

Many analysts close to the negotiations with Turkey and Azerbaijan say that Sarkisian has effectively agreed to speed up the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with more concessions to Azerbaijan. Armenian leaders have repeatedly denied that, arguing that none of the Turkish-Armenian protocols makes mention of the conflict. But Turkey’s top leadership has repeatedly made clear that Turkey’s parliament will not ratify the protocols until Armenia agrees to a resolution to the conflict favoring Azerbaijan.

According to the presidential statement, Sarkisian “once again reiterated that those two process are in no way connected with each other.” Armenia’s disputes with Azerbaijan and Turkey should be settled “separately,” he said.

Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian likewise insisted on Friday that the Armenian-Turkish thaw and the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations are “two separate processes.”

“This is not only the Armenian approach but the approach of the international community,” he told Reuters.

But Nalbandian’s Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, said earlier in the week that the Turkish parliament will not ratify the agreements unless international efforts to end the Karabakh dispute yield a breakthrough soon.

Armenian leaders have implicitly threatened to annul the agreements if the Turks “drag out” the ratification process. “If one of the sides will delay and create some obstacles in the way of ratification and implementation, I think it could bear all the responsibility for the negative consequences,” warned Nalbandian. He also made clear that Armenia and Azerbaijan will not cut a framework deal on Karabakh “tomorrow or in one month’s time or in a very short period of time.”

Sarkisian, for his part, said on Monday that Yerevan has already devised contingency plans for various “possible scenarios of the process of normalizing relations with Turkey.” He did not elaborate.

Sweden’s Social Democrat Party To Seek Genocide Recognition

STOCKHOLM–After a long debate on October 29, the 2009 Social Democrat Party Congress in Stockholm defied recommendations from the Party Executive and voted to work toward the recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Pontiac Genocides committed by Ottoman Turkey.

Through the vote, the party’s congress approved the first clause of motion J28, stating that the Social Democrats shall act for the genocide against Armenians, Assyrians and Pontiac Greek’s to be “recognized by Sweden, EU and UN”.

In a written statement at the weekend, the Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden applauded the Congress for its historic decision, noting that this action shall in no way harm the democratization process in Turkey, the research on the genocide, nor the reconciliation process between Turkey and Armenia.

The Union said it looked forward to this decision of the Congress being reflected in the Social Democratic activities within the Swedish Parliament and in the future work of their MPs in regard to the existing parliamentary motions calling for an official Swedish recognition of the Genocide.

Catholicos Aram I Demands Reparations for Adana Massacres

Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia. Photo by Arsineh Khachikian

ANTELIAS—His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia demanded on Wednesday reparations for the devastating Adana Massacres committed by the Ottoman Turkish government in 1909 during a symposium to mark the 100th anniversary of the brutal killings.

“In Adana we lost 30.000 lives, the massacres left us with widows, orphans, destroyed churches, homes, schools, farms, mills and everything else that touched the peoples’ livelihood,” Aram I said in his opening remarks “Hence, today on behalf of all Armenians we demand compensation from Turkey for those losses inflicted upon our people”.

“As Armenians we should set aside our differences and unite in our just claims for reparation for the Adana Tragedy,” Aram I said in his opening remarks. “The Demand for justice is not constrained by time. We must ensure that the consequences of the genocides are recognized and remedied.”

Traveling from all parts of the world to attend the symposium were community and political leaders, clergy, historians, researchers, international law experts and the descendants of the victims.

The symposium began with a Requiem Service in memory of the martyrs, presided over by His Holiness Aram I and celebrated by the members of the Brotherhood of the Catholicosate. Following the Service, the participants were led to the Cilicia Museum for the opening of an exhibition of 60 photographs from the archives of the Catholicosate depicting scenes of the massacres. Participants also took part in the unveiling of a cross-stone monument to the victims of the massacre.

“This sad page in the contemporary history of the Armenian nation should be remembered with due importance and seriousness.” Aram I said, speaking at the unveiling. He added that t Catholicosate of Cilicia “will organize a conference, an exhibition, and will oversee the publication of books and documents related to the Adana massacres.”

Senate Majority Leader Calls on Clinton to Meet with Armenian-American Leaders

WASHINGTON–Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has formally shared the reservations of the Silver State’s Armenian community regarding the dangers of the recently signed Turkey-Armenia Protocols with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

In a October 30, 2009 letter to ANCA-Nevada activist Razmig Libarian, the Senate leader reported that he had recently written to Secretary Clinton to pass along the concerns of his state’s citizens of Armenian heritage, and to encourage her to meet directly with the national leadership of the Armenian American community regarding the state of Turkey-Armenia relations.

In his letter to Secretary Clinton, dated October 20, 2009, Senator Reid wrote: “I am sure you are aware that this agreement has raised concerns in the Armenian community inside the United States. I have received many letters from Nevadans who do not support the creation of an international commission to examine the historical record on the genocide and who believe that the agreements are unfair to Armenia. (I have included a sample letter below). Given the serious nature of the community’s concerns, I felt it was important to raise them directly with you. The commission is particularly sensitive to the Armenian-American community since the Armenian genocide has never been recognized by Turkey.”

Despite the high profile of Armenia-Turkey ties in the Obama-Biden Administration’s foreign policy agenda, neither President Obama nor Secretary Clinton has met with the Armenian American community leadership.

The full text of both letters is provided below.

October 30, 2009
Dear Mr. Libarian:

Thank you for contacting me about your concerns regarding relations between Armenia and Turkey. I appreciate hearing from you.

I have always, and will continue to, recognize the terrible atrocities that took place in 1915 as genocide. As I said to those gathered for the Armenian American Cultural Society of Las Vegas’ annual commemoration on April 19, 2009, I believe that the United States should acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

On September 1, 2009, Armenia and Turkey signed protocols that expressed a desire to establish diplomatic relations between the two nations and open the border to trade. Final agreement is pending the ratification of the protocols by each country’s Parliament. As you note, these protocols also called for the formation of a commission to study the Armenian genocide.

I certainly appreciate the concerns that you raise in your letter and believe that it is important that the specifics issues you raise about the historical commission are taken into consideration. I recently wrote to Secretary Clinton to let her know about the concerns I have heard from my constituents on this issue, and included a sample copy of letters I have received. I also asked her to meet with the Armenian-American community to discuss these issues. The full text of my letter to Hilary Clinton is below.

Thank you once again for contacting me, and I hope you will continue to keep in touch. My best wishes to you.

Sincerely,

HARRY REID
United States Senator
Nevada

TEXT OF SENATOR REID’S LETTER TO SECRETARY CLINTON

October 20, 2009

The Honorable Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
Department of State
22001 C Street, NW
Room 7226
Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Secretary Clinton:

I am writing about the recent agreement to establish normal diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia. I know you have personally been involved in the negotiation of this agreement and
appreciate your attention on the issues I am raising today.

I am sure you are aware that this agreement has raised concerns in the Armenian community inside the United States. I have received many letters from Nevadans who do not support the creation of an international commission to examine the historical record on the genocide and who believe that the agreements are unfair to Armenia. (I have included a sample letter below). Given the serious nature of the community’s concerns, I felt it was important to raise them directly with you. The commission is particularly sensitive to the Armenian-American community since the Armenian genocide has never been recognized by Turkey.

I would also respectfully suggest that you meet directly with Armenian-American groups so they have an opportunity to share their views with you. Thank you again for your consideration of this request and your interest in this important national security issue.

Sincerely,

HARRY REID
United States Senator

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   November 24, 2009 at 12:59 pm

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   Peter Quinn
2. Jason Whitmen says:

   November 24, 2009 at 1:00 pm

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