On October 25, President Serzh Sargsyan congratulated Turkish President Abdullah Gül on the Turkish national holiday, although it is celebrated on October 29 and S. Sargsyan actually congratulated his Turkish counterpart four days earlier.
Aravot asked Kiro Manoyan, an official at the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Hay Dat and Political Issues Office, how he would assess this step taking into account the Armenia-Turkey protocols, the biased attitude of Turkey toward the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “If they haven’t mixed up the date, this kind of rush is unfathomable. Although the congratulation itself is not that fathomable either, because Turkey uses the Armenia-Turkey protocols in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and it reserves a right to express itself on any issue, even in the case of the Stepanakert airport, they deem necessary to say something. The
only possible explanation is that an agreement was signed with Iran and the President wants to show to the West that he is ready to speak the same language with Turkey too. Otherwise, there is no explanation, no justification, although it is not a justification either, because at the end of the day, it is clear for everyone that Turkey, which shows a hostile attitude toward Armenia, is also responsible for the current situation in Armenia putting forward conditions from the very first of Armenia’s independence, imposing a blockade and denying the establishment of diplomatic relations. This is not a friendly attitude, Turkey has been showing a hostile attitude for more than 20 years and therefore, we should not feel obliged to show every time that we are good boys,” Kiro Manoyan noted.
Emma GABRIELYAN
