‘We’re not hooligans,’ says Dasnaksutyun

Thursday, September 4, 2008

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
YEREVAN – Turkish Daily News
An Armenian political party is planning to demonstrate against Turkish President Abdullah Gül, if he travels to Yerevan this Saturday for the football match between Turkey and Armenia. Although there is every indication that he will, Gül is yet to publicly accept the invitation of his Armenian counterpart to attend the match in the Armenian capital.

Giro Manoyan, international secretary of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Dasnaksutyun bureau, told the Turkish Daily News that they were only planning to use their democratic rights to voice their opposition and that there would be no outbursts of violence during the demonstrations.

“We are not hooligans. I do not see why this demonstration is so exaggerated in Turkey. There is no reason to portray us as an obstacle to their visits. We know very well how to host people visiting our country; we have thousands of years of tradition of hospitality,” he said.

Pointing out that Gül had not yet officially responded to Armenian President Serge Sarkisian’s invitation, Manoyan said the delay not acceptable. “Of course Gül is free to accept or reject Sarkisian’s invitation. Although there is no diplomatic relations between the two countries, Turkey should have given an official response to an invitation at the presidential level,” he said.

Although aware of the fact that an official Turkish delegation arrived in Yerevan for security measures, he argued that there was a 50 percent chance that Gül would not visit Yerevan.

“If we were in power, we would never have made such an invitation to Gül,” he said. “Yes, we wish to establish good relations with our neighbors, including Turkey. The problem is that Turkey does not want to establish ties with Armenia. The genocide issue is as an obstacle according to Turkey, however this was not on the agenda during the first years of the establishment of Armenia,” he said.

De-facto border

Manoyan claimed that relations with Turkey froze completely in 1921, adding that this iron curtain could not be opened for over 80 years.

Responding to questions on Armenia not recognizing its border with Turkey, Manoyan said, “The Turkish-Armenian border is a de-facto border. The Moscow agreement signed between Turkey and Russia is not binding to Armenia; it is a decision of a third party. Another thing that should be remembered is that when the Kars Agreement was signed in 1921, Turkey was not even a republic yet.”

Pointing out that Turkey also had similar border issues with Syria, Manoyan noted, “Turkey established ties with Syria despite all the problems, but it takes a different attitude when it comes to Armenia.”

Historical problems cannot be solved in 90 minutes

“Expectations are high for the normalization of relations after the visit, however they can also get worse,” said Manoyan. Stressing that the two countries’ problems had deep historical roots, he said it was not possible to overcome these just from watching a 90 minute football game.

“Let’s assume that diplomatic relations have started. Even so, it would be wrong to expect that all the problems could be solved,” he continued.

Manoyan acknowledged that there had been a change in Turkey’s policies over Armenia’s claims of genocide. “Turkey did not even use the word ‘deportation’ 15 years ago. However, this is how it refers to the events today. Turkish intelligentsia is aware of the events and Turkey will accept genocide in the coming years. This is how a European Union candidate country should behave,” he concluded.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, or ARF, is an Armenian political party established in Tbilisi in 1890 as a federation of revolutionary Armenian groups. It is a member of the governing coalition in Armenia, with members in both Parliament and the cabinet.
Turkish Daily News

04.09.2008