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 YEREVAN
(RFE/RL)–Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian announced on Monday
his decision to visit Turkey this week to attend a football
match between the two neighbors, while questioning Ankara’s
commitment to honor the fence-mending agreements with Yerevan.
Sarkisian suggested that Turkish leaders’
weekend statements linking the normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations with a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh were
“primarily addressed to the Azerbaijani audience.”
“Otherwise, it would seem strange to me: if
the Turks are not going to ratify the protocols, then why did
they sign them [in Zurich on Saturday] in the first place?” he
told journalists. “Maybe they thought that we might not display
sufficient will and take a step back. Maybe.”
“In any case, the ball is in the Turkish
court today, and we have enough patience to await further
developments,” said Sarkisian. “If the Turks ratify the
protocols, if they stick to the agreed timetable, we will
continue the process. If not, we will not be bound by anything
and will do what we have announced.”
In a televised address to the nation on
Saturday, Sarkisian likewise implicitly threatened to walk away
from the controversial agreements–which have put him at odds
with the Armenian Diaspora and the people in Armenia–if Ankara
fails to implement them “within a reasonable timeframe.” Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Sunday that the
establishment of diplomatic relations and reopening of the
border between the two states hinges on a breakthrough in the
Karabakh peace process.
Galust Sahakian, the parliamentary leader of
Sarkisian’s Republican Party , indicated on Monday that
Armenia’s National Assembly will start debating the protocols
only after they are approved by the Turkish parliament. “If
Turkey makes any reservations, our parliament will not even
include [the issue] on its agenda,” said Sahakian.
Both the Republican Party and Erdogan’s
Justice and Development Party have a solid majority in their
respective legislatures.
Sarkisian also made clear that he has
accepted his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul’s invitation to
watch with him the return match of Armenia’s and Turkey’s
national soccer teams that will be played in the western Turkish
city of Bursa on Wednesday. The Armenian leader said earlier
that he will visit Turkey it only if Ankara takes “real steps”
to normalize bilateral ties.
Sarkisian said on Monday that “sufficient
prerequisites” are now in place for the landmark trip. “Turkey’s
president, Mr. Gul, had responded to my invitation and come to
Armenia [in September 2008,] and I now see no serious basis not
to accept his invitation,” he said. “My counterpart has sent a
written invitation, and unless something extraordinary happens
in the next two days, I will go to Bursa and cheer for my
favorite team.”
The president answered journalists’ questions
at Yerevan’s Zvartnots as he prepared to fly to Moscow for what
his office described as a brief working visit. It said Sarkisian
will meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev but gave no
details.
Shortly before his departure, Sarkisian sent
a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama thanking Washington for
its active role in the Turkish-Armenian dialogue.
“I am convinced that without the decisive
help of the United States it would have been impossible to make
effective efforts in this direction,” he said after “warmly”
congratulating Obama on winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister
Cemil Cicek said later on Monday that the Erdogan government
will send the protocols to the Turkish parliament “next week.”
“The assembly will decide whether to approve or reject them,”
Cicek told reporters after a cabinet meeting. But he underlined
that the “parliament will undoubtedly follow developments in
Armenia during this process.”
According to the AFP news agency, Cicek
described the pacts as a “sincere and serious show of will” by
Turkey. But he reiterated that lasting peace in the region also
depends on the resolution of the Karabakh dispute.
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