“Taking back the signature will do us no good”

Is convinced political scientist Suren Zolyan

– What do you think about the claims that because of the situation in Turkey or grabbing that opportunity, it will be right, if Armenia takes back its signature from the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation protocols?
– No, that will not be right, the process is frozen as it is, why should we undermine it once again, at the end of the day, let us not forget that those protocols were signed by foreign ministers of three most influential countries, why should we put those people in an awkward position once again and make it easy for Turks? If we do not want to revive those protocols, then they are already frozen and rather strongly. Let the Turkish side take some steps to unfreeze the process to some extent, otherwise, if we do that, the Turks will have a very good opportunity to blame the Armenian side for being unconstructive. In my opinion, taking back the signature is a move that will do us no good, but it may cause additional accusations. Certainly, everybody understands that those accusations will not be serious, but we don’t need it at all. I think it is worth that our foreign policy focuses on the Karabakh issue today and maybe we will repeat what the Turks say – maybe I am saying a paradoxical thing, but it will be good, if we state that the relations with Turkey can be improved, only if the Karabakh issue is solved, otherwise it will always be a mine.
– However, how realistic is that idea of yours, will we ever make such a statement?
– Maybe it is not, but it is right, it is the right thing for us to do.
– Do you share the notion that this latest decision of the Turkish parliament means that the Armenian diplomacy has suffered another defeat?
– No, not at all, I wouldn’t say that this process was started by the Armenian diplomacy; it was in many ways obliged move and if we talk about the diplomacy, then there exists an unwritten rule – one must not say no. As in children’s games, when if one says no, he puts himself in an unfavorable position. In my opinion, our diplomacy went to the end with dignity. The decision of the Constitutional Court was also very important and the Turkish side was really not offered an opportunity to make comments afterwards, at it wished to. In this respect, I think this process is quite right.
– Do the influential states that you mentioned have anything to do in this situation, would they like or would they try to restore the situation to some extent, or will they wash their hands?
– Actually, the situation is different today, for example, the position of President of France Sarkozy; it is not a secret that Sarkozy’s party was the one who disrupted the project of stipulating punishment for the denial of the Genocide, meanwhile Sarkozy’s party itself put forward that project at the time. It certainly was a move to improve relations with Turkey. Remember Sarkozy’s bad attitude toward Turkey, which he has never concealed and always expressed publicly. Now, it seems that he himself initiated that the project was not adopted in the French parliament. In the case of Russia, we see that they act more peacefully here willy-nilly, because they see that both are being removed from the region. As to the US, there are serious issues here – Turkey-Israel, Turkey-Iran and probably that is the reason why the issue of the Armenian relations was pushed to the sidelines. There is an important thing – the United States are never going to give up their doctrine, which is the following; they will not act in the region by themselves, but through Turkey, expanding the influence of that country, taking into account Russia’s legitimate interests and neutralizing Iran’s influence. It is a theory written several times.
– And what part is Armenia to play in that theory, none?
– Armenia is the obstacle that impedes Turkey and that is the reason why they put Turkey under pressure, in order that this country may improve its relations with Armenia. Anyway, as you see, Turkey faces the mandatory condition of improving the relations with Armenia, in return for which Turkey will be given an important role in the region, otherwise there remains only Azerbaijan and Georgia for it.