ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS NO PRECONDITION FOR GOOD-NEIGHBORLY R

Mr. Oskanian expressed confidence that the “interdiction may be overcome by cooperation of the Armenian and Turkish people.” He called “dubious” the proposal of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to shape a joint commission of scholars-historians to investigate the events of 1915-1917 in the Ottoman Turkey. “No joint commission can be shaped before diplomatic relations between official Ankara and Yerevan are established. The question is a political one and it should be considered from the relevant viewpoint. Turks have never been so mobilized, on the state level, about the negation policy, before,” Mr. Oskanian emphasized. He added that Turkey’s aggression on Armenian Genocide grows simultaneously with its recognition by other countries. He emphasized that French Parliament’s adoption of the law envisaging criminal prosecution for denial of the Armenian Genocide was a “definite response to Turkish government’s policy of denial.” Mr. Oskanian said that at present, only the recognition of the Genocide is the only issue in the agenda of Armenia’s foreign policy and that nobody should fear about its demand for contribution. At the same time, Ra Foreign Minister agreed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is quite a serious obstacle in Armenia’s relations with Turkey and that “Ankara’s definite solidarity with Azerbaijan works against very Turkey, because it risks the country’s credibility for undertaking the role of the East-West bridge.” Mr. Oskanian didn’t agree with correlation of Nagorno-Karabakh and South Cyprus, as the first appeared as a result of USSR’s collapse and the second occurred on the UN member-state’s territory. He agreed that both Cyprus and Armenia see obstacles in Turkey’s membership in EU but none of these countries work against Turkey. “We do have common questions to discuss but we do not unite against anyone”, Vartan Oskanian underscored

News Source:  AZG Daily