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Fellow compatriots
On January 12, 2010 the Constitutional Court
of the Republic of Armenia examined the constitutionality of the
responsibilities undertaken by the Armenian side according to
the signed Armenian-Turkish protocols.
Thus began the process of ratifying the
Protocols that endanger out national interests and contradict
the founding principles of our state, as stipulated in the
Constitution.
The ARF had, from the start, rejected the
three main points in the protocols which it considered to be
preconditions aiming at: undermining the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide; legitimizing the current
border between Armenia and Turkey; and linking the normalization
of the relations between Armenia and Turkey with the resolution
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Azerbaijan’s favor.
We were, and still are, convinced that the
signed protocols contradict with Armenia’s constitution to a
degree sufficient to provide the Constitutional Court with valid
legal basis to consider the protocols unconstitutional.
While, unfortunately that didn’t occur, we
are convinced that the mounting resentments expressed in Armenia
and the Diaspora against the protocols is yielding results.
First, as the decision reached by the Constitutional Court also
indicates, the signing of the protocols is the result of the
poor performance of Armenia’s Foreign Minister. Second, the
Constitutional Court has indicated that the establishment of
relations with Turkey should be strictly diplomatic in nature,
and has accepted the opening of the border between Armenia and
Turkey. Moreover the Constitutional Court did refer to the
expressed concerns regarding the protocols and has provided
enough legal basis for Armenia to express reservations regarding
some of the points in the protocols.
The Constitutional Court specifically passed
a decision that the protocols are considered to be a bilateral
agreement between Armenia and Turkey and that the Republic of
Armenia could not speak on behalf of a third party, in this case
Nagorno-Karabakh.
On the issue of the Genocide, any
responsibilities that Armenia should undertake based on the
provisions of the protocols can not contradict the preamble of
Armenia’s constitution and the 11th point of Armenia’s
declaration of independence which explicitly mentions that the
Republic of Armenia will support the international recognition
of the Genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and in
Western Armenia.
As far as defining the border between Armenia
and Turkey is concerned, the protocols do not have any legal
premise to delineate those boundaries. Hence this is still an
open issue, and one that could be resolved solely based on a
future inter-state agreement.
Having the Constitutional Court’s decision,
the ARF is convinced that the decision could diffuse the dangers
expressed in the protocols if at the time of the ratification,
the reservations expressed by the Constitutional Court become an
integral part of the ratified protocols.
Fellow compatriots,
We consider that the decision reached by the
Constitutional Court is the successful end product of a struggle
that has brought together the efforts of the ARF, other
political and social groups as well as the whole nation. However
the challenge still, lies ahead. We have to increase our efforts
exponentially and force the authorities of Armenia to bring this
process to a conclusion
Our final goal is to normalize Armenian
–Turkish relations without undermining the interests of the
nation and the state and specifically without giving any
concessions from the rightful demands of generations of our
people.
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
January 12, 2010
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