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MULTIMEDIA
May 27, 2012
 
 
 
 
 
 

Armenia protocols now less likely to clear Parliament

6 March 2010 / ERCAN YAVUZ, ANKARA
Following the US House Foreign Relations Committee's approval of a resolution branding the World War I-era incidents in Anatolia as “genocide,” Turkey's endorsement of protocols signed with Armenia seems to be in danger.

Opposition parties in Turkey already stood against approving the protocols with Armenia, and after the vote in the United States the ruling party's deputies have started to side with the opposition on the matter. Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols on Oct. 10 of last year to open their shared land border and normalize relations.

But the protocols have not yet been debated in the Turkish Parliament, although the government submitted the protocols on Nov. 21 for approval. Suat Kılıç, deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) parliamentary group, said the US vote would influence the approval of the protocols with Armenia. He said, however, that the government would not act “emotionally” on the issue and would take mutual steps.

Turkish opposition parties have said that they first need to see steps by Armenia towards its withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been under Armenian occupation since a 1994 cease-fire which followed a six-year war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Turkey had closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan.

The Turkish opposition claims that the US administration is using the genocide resolution to force Turkey's hand on the protocols. They also reacted negatively to US Ambassador James Jeffrey, who visited Parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission and hinted that the genocide resolution is likely to be approved in the US Congress unless the Turkey-Armenia protocols are approved in the Turkish Parliament.

“The United States is trying to pressure Turkey to have the protocols debated in Parliament. But it seems impossible at this point for Turkey to do that. Even if the government brings up the issue of approval, the protocols would not be approved,” Kürşat Atılgan, a member of the Foreign Affairs Commission and a deputy from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said.

Turkey decided not to move forward with the approval process following a decision by the Armenian parliament that the protocols would not be in their spring schedule. Relations were strained following the Armenian constitutional court's decision on Jan. 12, which Turkey says "contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the protocols.”

Most AK Party deputies said that the US administration did not intervene in time to prevent the vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “Turkey has been trying hard to make peace and stability prevail in the region, but the US committee's decision does not contribute to that. As long as the US and Armenia do not take steps to contribute to peace and stability, the protocols won't come to the fore in Parliament,” Zeynep Dağı, a historian and AK Party deputy, said.

Another deputy from the AK Party, Edibe Sözen, said the US committee has fallen into the trap of the Armenian diaspora. "The decision of the US House committee is a political decision. Turkey has offered to establish a commission of historians to discuss that issue. But Armenia has not warmed to the idea because they fear the historical facts. They see this as a national issue, and they do not want to give it away. The US, instead of contributing to the relations between Turkey and Armenia, has helped to increase tension. I think the protocols are in deep trouble now,” she said.
 
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© Feza Gazetecilik A.Ş. 2007, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı Cad. No: 6, Bahçelievler - İstanbul 34194 Turkey, +90 (212) 454 1454, +90 (212) 454 1497(fax)