The Turkish government could launch some sort of initiative to pave
the way for eventual normalization in severed ties with
Armenia, said a
government deputy who presented a report to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan on how to ease tension with Yerevan following
a recent
unofficial visit to the neighboring country.
“We should expect
a new initiative [by Turkey],” Turhan Çömez of the ruling
Justice and
Development Party (AKP) told the Turkish Daily News. “I can
say that I
hope and expect Turkish-Armenian relations will gain a new dimension in
the coming period,” he said, adding that he was unable to elaborate
further.
In his report to Erdogan, the
deputy suggested moves ranging from the exchange
of student groups
to organizing joint sports and cultural events and establishing a
joint
working group of Turkish and Armenian parliamentarians that he
said
would lay the groundwork for building up mutual
understanding, Turkey
and Armenia have not enjoyed diplomatic relations since
1993, and
tension runs high over Armenian allegations of genocide, a claim Turkey
denies.
“If you take a step to resolve chronic problems,
problems that have become taboo, you will see that it is hard because
of the prejudices existing on both
sides,” commented Çömez. “But if you
walk on a common ground in which there are no minefields, I mean
no
major problems, the headway you can make in these areas could
constitute an important step toward resolving problematic issues.”
Turkey, Armenia need to ride out the storm
Tiptoeing round a minefield of problematic matters and
trying to
build up mutual understanding through cultural cooperation
would lay
the groundwork for normalization between estranged neighbors Turkey and
Armenia, said a Turkish government deputy at the conclusion of
a recent
unofficial trip to Yerevan.
The three-day visit to Yerevan by
the ruling Justice and Development Party’s Turhan Çömez is
a rare
example of such Turkish-Armenian contacts. Çömez used his
trip to
present a report a few days ago to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan,
suggesting possible moves for an improvement in ties with Armenia,
with
which Turkey has no diplomatic relations.
In an exclusive
interview with the Turkish Daily News, Çömez said he had a
strong hope
that the Turkish government would move to ease tension with
Armenia. “We should expect a new initiative [by Turkey]. I
cannot foresee what
type of initiative that could be right now,” he said, adding that he
had observed quite a positive atmosphere both in Yerevan and, upon his
return, in Turkey. “I can say I hope and expect that
Turkish-Armenian
relations will gain a new dimension in the coming period.”
Normalized
relations with its neighbors is among the European Union’s
expectations
of Turkey, although it is not among the EU criteria the
candidate
country must meet to begin entry negotiations with the
25-nation bloc.
Ahead of the entry talks, scheduled for early October, increased EU
calls for Turkey to open up a border gate with land-locked Armenia are
loud enough to be heard by Ankara.
So-called genocide erects a
barrier:
Çömez’s
optimistic remarks over possible Turkish overtures still may raise a
few skeptical eyebrows at home and abroad as Ankara and
Yerevan have
long been grappling with a number of disputed
issues, primarily what
happened to Armenians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire during
World
War I.
Armenians say Ottoman Turks slaughtered 1.5 million of
their ethnic kin in a planned genocide at the time and demand that
Turkey recognize the killings as genocide. Turkey denies the
allegations and says the death toll is wildly inflated. Many Turks also
fear that if the killings are recognized as genocide, Armenia will make
territorial claims against Turkey.
Turkey severed its
diplomatic relations with Armenia and closed its border gate with the
country in the last decade after Armenian troops occupied the
Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ankara now says
normalization of ties depends on Armenian withdrawal from
Nagorno-Karabakh as well as progress on a series of bilateral issues,
including Armenia ending its support of Armenian diaspora
efforts to
secure international recognition for an alleged genocide of
Armenians
at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire.
Çömez said he got the
impression during his Yerevan talks that Armenian
officials were
willing to discuss the so-called genocide with Ankara on a political
platform but they sought that Turkey refrain
from linking genocide
allegations and the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute to the launching of
diplomatic ties between the two countries and
opening the border.
“If
you take a step to resolve chronic problems, problems that have become
taboo, you will see that it is hard because of the prejudices existing
on both sides,” said the AKP deputy when asked
why he saw a such a
big chance for improvement.
HH] Treading gently:
“But
if you walk on a common ground in which there are no minefields, I
mean
no major problems, the headway you can make in these areas could
constitute an important step for resolving problematic issues,” he
explained.
Çömez enumerated the suggestions
conveyed to
Erdoðan in his report as the exchange of student groups, hosting
Armenian journalists in Turkey, organizing mutual sports and
cultural
events and establishing a joint working group
comprising Turkish and
Armenian parliamentarians, not only to discuss mutually troublesome
issues but also to create mutual understanding between the peoples of
the two countries.
He admitted that if adopted by the
government, preparing the groundwork would take a long time. “In
my
view, the most important among my suggestions is the joint working
group of politicians who will be in close contact all the time. If this
happens, I believe progress can be made much more quickly on the
political platform than on the platform of scientists and historians.”
His
visit comes after a Turkish proposal to establish a joint
committee of
scholars to study the events of 1915-1918. Armenia responded by
proposing instead an inter-governmental committee of politicians
to
look into ways to improve bilateral relations. Çömez
said both Ankara
and Yerevan should learn to how to handle their problems
themselves
without the involvement of any third countries.
The
government deputy addressed a conference at Yerevan University on
Turkish-Armenian relations during the time of World War I and met
Armenian officials and politicians, including Ghiro Manoyan of the
nationalist Dashnaksutiun Party, during his visit earlier in May.
“I
told them they should abandon their claims over an incident that did
not take place and that they should avoid suspicious statements and
behavior … over Turkey’s border and territorial unity. They should
realize that Turkey is a regional power and exert efforts to
resolve
the [Nagorno] Karabakh problem,” he said, elaborating on
messages he
conveyed in Yerevan. “On these basic principles, we know that
improving
ties is for the benefit of both countries.”
Yorumlar kapatıldı.