| “Novoye Vremya” newspaper (Armenia)
Author: Vigen Hakobyan, Armenika Kiviryan
On September 25 in New York, a meeting between the two heads of the foreign offices of Armenia and Turkey took place. Vartan Oskanian and Abdullah Gul discussed the issues related to possible lifting of the blockade; they also addressed the issue of Karabagh problem settlement. Other issues were also discussed. Only one topic was avoided – establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia.
Meanwhile, it was in September and in New York that within the framework of UN General Assembly the meeting Chetin – Ter-Petrosyan took place providing ground for establishment of diplomatic relations between Yerevan and Ankara. 11 years have passed since.
Let us consult recent history. In June 1992, in Rio de Janeiro, World Economic Forum was convened. It was within the framework of the forum that the first official Armenian-Turkish meeting took place between Prime Minister of Turkey, Suleiman Demirel and RA President Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Demirel declared then, “I am speaking with you not as a Prime Minister with President. Let us put back all formalities. You will not resolve anything through war. After 1000 years you have been given an opportunity of creating independent Armenia. But you will not be able to establish this state on the basis of vengeance, hatred and war. Your neighbors are Azerbaijan and Turkey. Unless you establish friendly relations with us and withdraw your military units from the territory of Azerbaijan, you will be placed in a difficult situation”. Moreover, “Dear Mr. Ter-Petrosyan, I address you in such an informal way because I want establishment of peace. I have been engaged in diplomacy and politics for many years. Armenia should not be regulated by peace, you should mobilize all efforts to be masters of the situation yourselves”.
A while later, the Turkish newspaper “Hurriyet” provides the following comment on the dialogue, “Demirel’s conversation with Ter-Petrosyan left the impression of father’s exhortations to a son”.
The monologue of the Turkish premier has probably affected further domestic policy of Levon Ter-Petrosyan. As far back as August 1992, RA President addressed the people, “As a scientist, politician and President of the Republic endowed with the people’s mandate, I am confident that war will not have any positive consequences for Armenia. The result will be the same as in 1920 when Armenia was a state with a territory of 60 thousand square kilometers. At that moment, there was a serious possibility to create and preserve independent statehood on that territory. But only if the authorities conducted flexible policy, did not deceive themselves with false assertions in the documents like Sevre Treaty, if they did not trust USA, England, France but attempted to solve all their problems directly with Turkey. Instead, they were carried away by unrealistic ideas and lost half of Armenia since at that time Armenia was at war with three neighbors: Azerbaijan, Turkey and even Georgia – our traditional friend and ally”.
In Rio de Janeiro, Ter-Petrosyan gave a response to Demirel, “Dear Mr. Demirel, I am also looking forward to negotiations. We have already established telephone communication with Aliev (then Chairman of Parliament of Nakhichevan)”.
At that period, political scientists did not miss the opportunity to declare that Ter-Petrosyan, having gained power under the slogan “Karabagh!”, Miatsum!”, with the initiative of Turkish Prime Minister, Suleiman Demirel changes the political course and does it at the hottest moment of political resistance.
On June 29, 1992, two weeks after the meeting in Rio, Levon Ter-Petrosyan ousted Dashnak leader Hrair Marukhyan from Armenia.
Having persecuted Dashnaktsutyun and put a ban on the idea of Hay Dat professed by the latter, Ter-Petrosyan later will attempt to burn the bridges between Armenia and the Diaspora. “Development of RA is exclusively RA citizens’ business”, – his famous declaration.
Probably Ter-Petrosyan’s course has considerably inspired Ankara. Immediately after the New York meeting, Chetin announced, “Political agreement with Armenia will be signed within a few days. Armenia has officially declared about the absence of territorial claims to Turkey, and the problem of Genocide will become historical legacy. MFA of Turkey, through the embassy in Moscow, sent a draft of agreement with these two provisions to Armenia. It should serve as a basis of the document for establishment of diplomatic relations.”
It was there in New York that Levon Ter-Petrosyan gave an interview to the Turkish newspaper “Turkiye” where he stated in particular, “We aspire to cooperation with Turkey in all spheres. We want the establishment of economic ties to serve a basis for settlement of friendly relations”.
To quote Hikmet Chetin, “The price of our relations with Armenia is the problem of Azerbaijan. The condition is withdrawal of armed forces from its territory. The draft sent by us addresses all this, and I have gained warm support by Levon Ter-Petrosyan”.
Chetin did not violate the truth. And the following statements by Ter-Petrosyan support it, “Dashnak military detachments will be unable to have any influence in Karabagh. Our independent Republic is only a year old. We aspire to get rid of the previous rotten order and establish a new one. My people does not heed similar thoughtless voices. Nobody will be able to impede our efforts in establishing at least normal relations with Turkey”.
Speaking about “similar thoughtless voices”, Levon Ter-Petrosyan apparently meant not only Dashnaktsutyun party but also the person dangerous for his course – head of MFA of Armenia, Raffi Hovhannisyan.
Thus 11 years ago in September 1992, the Republic of Armenia was closer to establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey than ever. According to experts, such a breakthrough was unprecedented in world history: not a single country immediately during the first year of its independence had so actively aspired to development of friendly relations and cooperation with the state that had eliminated a good half of the nation, living on its own historical territory, had plunged it in demographic catastrophe and deprived it of the largest portion of its territory. With the state not recognizing the fact of Genocide and taking a biased, close to cynicism position in the settlement of already another – Karabagh conflict. The phenomenon was considered to be unprecedented also because the position of official Yerevan did not proceed from the genesis of the Third Republic resting exclusively on national values. And what is most important – the establishment of diplomatic relations with the legal successor of the Ottoman Empire – the Turkish Republic – ran contrary to the ideology of the people waging national-liberating struggle and firmly enduring the hardships and privations of military resistance and blockade.
Already later with the final loss of prestige by the first RA President in his own country, the issue of establishing diplomatic relations between RA and Turkey was removed from agenda for an indefinite period of time. Will this prolonged timeout between Armenia and Turkey be interrupted without any infringement on national interests and moreover – dignity of the Armenian nation – is a difficult question. At least, the recent meeting Oskanian-Gul may be considered as a sort of breakthrough in the long diplomatic abstention. But one can firmly state: current RA authorities have already managed to break Ankara of the bad habit of imposing its “fatherly advice” on Yerevan”… |
Akgün Medya