|
 WASHINGTON
(RFE/RL)–U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned
President Serzh Sarkisian late Thursday just hours after he
threatened to annul Armenia’s fence-mending agreements with
Turkey if Ankara fails to unconditionally implement them, it
emerged on Friday.
Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan,
Sarkisian said Ankara’s continuing linkage of the normalization
of Turkish-Armenian relations and the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict runs counter to the U.S.-backed
agreements signed in October. He said he has already instructed
his administration to draft amendments to Armenian laws that
“pertain to the signing, ratification and abrogation of
international agreements.”
According to Sarkisian’s press office,
Clinton initiated the phone conversation to brief the Armenian
leader on President Barack Obama’s Monday talks with the
visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A U.S.
official told RFE/RL that the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement
topped the agenda of the talks.
“During the phone conversation, Secretary of
State Clinton once again emphasized that the United States will
continue with its consistent support for a speedy normalization
of relations between Armenia and Turkey without preconditions,”
the presidential office said in a statement.
The statement said Sarkisian asked Clinton to
express his “gratitude” to Obama for adhering to this position.
It also cited him as reaffirming Yerevan’s readiness to press
ahead with the normalization process and expressing hope that
“the Turkish side will display similar readiness and
responsibility.” There was no word on whether the two touched
upon the Armenian threats to walk away from the deal.
In a letter to an Armenian-American
organization publicized last week, Obama said the process
“should move forward without preconditions and within a
reasonable timeframe.” According to Sarkisian’s office, Clinton
likewise stated that Washington views the Turkish-Armenian
normalization and efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict as “separate processes.”
However, Erdogan insisted after the talks
with Obama that from Ankara’s perspective, the two processes are
“very much related.” He said Turkey’s parliament is unlikely to
ratify the two Turkish-Armenian “protocols” unless there is a
breakthrough in the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.
The protocols commit Ankara to establish
diplomatic relations with Yerevan and reopen the
Turkish-Armenian border within two months of their entry into
force. Neither document makes any direct reference to the
Karabakh conflict.
Still, repeated pro-Azerbaijani statements
made by Erdogan and other Turkish officials making the
resolution of the conflict a requirement for normal relations
point to the likelihood that Yerevan confidentially agreed to
make more concessions to Azerbaijan during the fence-mending
negotiations with the Turks. Sarkisian and his political allies
strongly deny this.
The Sarkisian administration has also been on
the defensive over a key protocol clause that envisages the
formation of a Turkish-Armenian panel of historians that would
look into the 1915-1923 Armenian Genocide. Ankara has made no
secret that it will exploit the existence of the body to deter
more countries from recognizing the Genocide. Sarkisian insisted
in a November 28 speech, however, that the rapprochement with
Turkey will actually help Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora
“accelerate the recognition process.”
Clinton has been personally involved in the
drawing up and signing of the Turkish-Armenian protocols. She
was among foreign dignitaries that attended the signing ceremony
held in Zurich on October 10. The top U.S. diplomat already
phoned Sarkisian in August and September to discuss the dramatic
thaw in the historically strained Turkish-Armenian ties.
|
