Sarkisian cited the need for more intensive government efforts to tackle the economic recession. “The individuals occupying the most important positions have no right to be absent from Armenia,” he said, as quoted by Armenia's azatutyun.am news site, adding that hard work awaits the government in their efforts to overcome the economic crisis.
In an openly antagonistic move against Turkey, the young members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party (ARF or Dashnaksutyun) also appealed to the mayor of Yerevan to remove the advertisement for vacations in Turkey.
According to Richard Giragosian, director of the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS), these are signs of a brewing distrust of Turkey in Armenia because of a sense that Turkey has been using the prospects of reopening its border with Armenia to gain an upper hand against the Armenian diaspora's pressure on world governments for genocide recognition.
Giragosian said further postponement of reopening the border with Armenia's estranged neighbor Turkey would make the normalization of relations harder, as their ties were severed in 1993 after Armenia occupied part of Azerbaijan's territory in a war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Artists know no borders The sixth Yerevan International Film Festival Golden Apricot was launched on July 12, with the traditional blessing of apricots and with dozens of movies from 65 countries, including Turkey.
Directed by Özcan Alper, “Sonbahar” (Autumn) will be screened in the festival's International Competition program. In addition, Senem Tüzen, with her feature film project “Komitas,” and Sibil Çekmen, with “Verchin Zang,” will participate in the Directors Across Borders Third Regional Co-Production Forum, according to İstanbul-based Anadolu Kültür. The Armenia-Turkey Cinema Platform, initiated by Anadolu Kültür and the Golden Apricot International Film Festival, will also organize a documentary film workshop within the festival. The selected projects from Turkey are “Bavfille” by Müjde Arslan, “Once Upon a Time” by Zeynep Güzel and Nagehan Uskan and “Hasine” by Haydar Demirtaş. |
“The longer Turkey waits, the more they lose trust. This is the perception in Armenia,” he said.
Observers say this perception has been increasing especially after Turkey and Armenia announced on April 22 -- just ahead of US President Barack Obama's April 24 address commemorating the World War I-era killings of Anatolian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire -- that they had achieved solid progress in talks on normalizing their relations and had agreed on a roadmap for restoring ties.
Yerevan Press Club head Boris Navasardian said it was obvious that Obama would not use the word “genocide” in his statement after the announcement by Turkey and Armenia. Obama indeed did not use the word. Instead he called the tragedy “Meds Yeghern,” (Armenian for “Great Catastrophe”) disappointing many Armenians. This was interpreted as Obama's desire to avoid harming efforts by Turkey and Armenia to establish ties and as recognition of Turkey's importance as a partner of the US in achieving several foreign policy goals in the region.
Following the April 22 agreement, the ARF decided to walk out of Armenia's coalition government, protesting the accord.
Months have passed, and there have been no steps forward by Turkey regarding reopening the border with Armenia. Instead, Turkish officials have stressed that “the restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity is a condition for normalizing relations between Ankara and Yerevan.”
Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan, country director of the US, Norway, and UK-supported Eurasia Partnership Foundation in Armenia, said expectations for Turkey are high and are held not only by the Armenian side.
“There are a lot of expectations, but they are not just Armenian. They are also US and Russian. Everybody wants this border to be opened; it is in everybody's interest,” he said.
He also said that Turkey and Armenia should establish diplomatic relations before the two countries' soccer match in October in Turkey.
“The border should be opened to receive Mr. [Serzh] Sarksyan. And then they should forget to close the border,” he said. “Opening the border for Sarksyan will have a symbolic significance, but if it closes again, it will make people very disappointed.”
Indeed, Armenian President Sarksyan accused Ankara of failing to honor agreements and “misleading the international community” last week, although he had seemed quite optimistic about the early steps toward normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.
Political observers even say that Sarksyan might refuse to go to Turkey for the upcoming soccer match if a commitment such as signing an agreement to open the border is not made between Yerevan and Ankara.
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