YEREVAN (Yerkir)—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia issued an announcement Wednesday urging the Serzh Sarkisian administration to immediately end its negotiations with Turkey.
At a press conference, ARF Supreme Council of Armenia chairman Armen Rustamian read the statement, which called the diplomatic efforts of the past year to normalize relations with Turkey a failure.
Below is a translated text of the announcement:
In assessing the year-long process to normalize Armenia-Turkey relations and the current situation created in that arena, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia finds that the so-called “soccer diplomacy” effort has failed. Thus we affirm that:
* Until now the settlement process has served and is serving only Turkey’s interests. On the one hand, Turkey is deflecting the international community’s attention from its internal problems and hypocritically acting as an advocate of establishing normal relations with neighbors. On the other hand, the Armenian agenda is being driven out of the international arena step by step.
* By gravely violating agreements, Turkey effectively has not dropped its preconditions. Furthermore it is attempting to dictate conditions on the Karabakh conflict resolution process, visibly taking Azerbaijan’s side and obscuring the Armenian-Azeri conflict.
* The preconditions presented by Turkey are not only unacceptable but are also illegal. They insult our national dignity and endanger the future of our dual Armenian states and our the Armenian people.
* In reality, Turkey is continuing its anti-Armenian policies, while, at the same time, attempting to play the international community. It is evident that the opening of the border which it closed is its international responsibility and cannot serve as leverage or an opportunity to force preconditions on Armenia.
* At this juncture, Armenia and the Armenian people must prove that despite the blockade by Turkey, they can put forward bold political and economic policies and realize them, becoming a vital force in the region and a developed country, without compromising our national interests.
Based on these, we call on the president of the Republic of Armenia to reassess these policies and end the negotiations.
We believe that Armenian should be guided by the following approaches: the only way to normalize relations between the two countries and address any pending issues is for Turkey immediately to end the land blockade to adhere to international norms as the relate to establishment of diplomatic relations.
I’m glad to hear Turkish solidarity with its Muslim brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan is growing stronger by the hour. Probably because they both realize they can gouge Armenia for everything it ever had and more if they just work together. What I am more concerned about is whether our dear brethren in Armenia hear this message loud and clear. How many blatantly obvious red flags do they need before realizing that they are being duped? It’s increasingly apparent that the blind are leading the blind and trusting Sarkissian is becoming ever more difficult.
It looks like the turks showed good face to obama and injected there medicine, glad to hear it works on sarkissyian.
The so called “road map” talks should have been discussed with the rest of Armenia’s political parties and revealed to the Armenian people as this is a concern to everyone. After 18 years when Turkey blockaded Armenia now to open them they are putting preconditions? How is that possible? I hope and pray that our president Sarkissian and his cabinet are firmly guarding our nation, our naitonal righs and our sacred cause.
The so called “road map” talks should have been discussed with the rest of Armenia’s political parties and revealed to the Armenian people as this is a concern to everyone. We urge president Sarkissian and his cabinet to firmly guard our nation, our naitonal interests and our sacred cause.