interview with Secretary of the Turkey’s Grand National Assembly (parliament), MP from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Fatih Metin.
The reservations the Armenian Constitutional Court made to the Armenia-Turkey protocols caused a crisis in the normalization process between the two countries. How all this reached this point?
From its first days in power, the AKP set a goal to improve relations with its neighbors in the region in an effort to create a zone of peace and cooperation and therefore wanted to normalize relations with Armenia to help it to come out of isoation. This process started not as a result of external pressure, but because it was an internal desire. We wanted the problem to be resolved not by disputes and wars, but treaties and agreements. The Zurich protocols were signed as part of this policy.
The signing of the protocols posed some problems. The Armenian Diaspora and opposition actively opposed this rapprochement. They voiced a need for adding some items to the protocols which were actually directed against Turkey. Serzh Sargsyan was forced to succumb to this pressure by Armenia and its diaspora. To help Sargsyan to get out of the hard situation, Constitutional Court adopted these protocols with a unique commentary dividing the process into stages and thus changing essence of the document contrary to Turkey’s interests. They thought that Turkey would take their claims unquestioningly. But Turkey has its own dignity and its own political objectives. Ankara could not agree with such hypocrisy and so warned Armenia and the countries of non-mediators of inadmissibility of changes in an already signed document.
You said that the protocols were possible thanks to Turkey’s desire. But some Turkish MPs, including those who represent the ruling party, are convinced that Turkey did so as a result of pressure from the U.S. and the EU …
Of course, the EU and U.S. interests were involved this regard and they informed Turkey about their desires. But nobody can force Turkey to accept what it does not want to do. Turkey is a country with its own weight in the world. It has serious levers of influence on ongoing processes in the Middle East. Neither the U.S. nor the EU would have dared to force Turkey to make concessions to Armenia. Turkey took into account its interests and rules of the game in the world in this process.
Armenia claims that rapprochement with Turkey does not allegedly imply a solution to the Karabakh conflict …
President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Turkey have repeatedly expressed our country’s position on this issue, so there is no need to repeat it. If you remember, they stated that they inform the Azerbaijani leadership about all details of the Armenian-Turkish talks. Turkey wanted to declare beginning of the process by these protocols.
Turkey has problems with Armenia not only on the Karabakh, but also on other issues. You know that Armenia refuses to recognize Gyumri and Kars treaties that determine the border between Armenia and Turkey, as well as the status of Nakhchivan. It puts official claims to Turkey’s territory. Armenia stages a dirty campaign to give legal status to its claims against Turkey. As a result, many world media outlets know the Mount Agri as Ararat. Armenians have always claimed that Noah’s Ark is on Mount Ararat, and is a “sacred place” taken away from them by Turks. Russia’s geographic sources have long shown the Mount Ağrı within Armenia’s borders. Armenia shows Anatolia as “Western Armenia”.
Turkey does not forget about these facts. Turkey decided to close the border with Armenia because of the occupation of Karabakh and surrounding areas. The Turkish Government has always stressed that the reasons that caused the closure have not yet been eliminated. Given all these, opening the border with Armenia is a step contrary to Turkey’s interests and disrespect of our country to its decisions. The Turkish people will never forgive this to government.
The U.S. and the EU leadership, not knowing about Turkey’s refusal to adopt the Armenian Constitutional Court decision, again called on Ankara to ratify the protocols …
Frankly, it is impossible to explained these calls by U.S. and EU by any logic. All attribute this to the regional energy projects. It is alleged that the tension in Armenian-Turkish relations is an obstacle to regional peace processes and energy security. It arises quite an interesting question- Is ignoring interests of Azerbaijan, which is a significant regional energy power, not an obstacle to energy security?!
It is believed that the U.S. and EU are trying to achieve neutralization of Armenia in case of military intervention in Iran. Armenia has very good relations with Iran and today Armenia lives with the help of Iran. So, I do not believe that Armenia will spoil relations with Iran for the sake of something. Even after the normalization of relations with Turkey Armenia will not trust us as it trusts Iran. In addition, Russia has its own this interests in this process. In the most appropriate time Armenia will express position of neither Americans or Europeans, but that of Russians.
The upcoming February 26 will mark 18 years since the Khojaly genocide. Is the Turkish parliament going to recognize Khojaly massacre as genocide?
I hesitate to say whether this matter will be brought up for discussions in the Turkish Parliament this year or not. Actually unprecedented vandalism and a crime against humanity occurred in Khojaly. The perpetrators of Khojaly events have no right to talk about “genocide of the Turks against the Armenians. Unfortunately, our neighbor try to design of brazen lies as truth for centuries.
ToDay.Az
