The US continues to insist on the settlement of the relationship issue between Armenia and Turkey
The seminar titled “Settlement of Armenia-Turkey relationship: challenges and prospective” continued from October 29 to 30 in Tsaghkadzor, which was jointly organized by “The Civic Consent NGO” and the Embassy of the Great Britain in Yerevan; Matthew Eussen, Chief of Political and Economic Section of US Embassy in Armenia was invited to the conference. He spoke about the US-Turkey interrelations, then answered the numerous questions of young people. The diplomat mentioned that throughout the last 45 years Turkey had had serious problems of terrorism both inside and outside of the country, and mainly due to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
“Turkey has been quite generous in the question of refugees, and it is praiseworthy that Turkey has taken up the responsibility in the issue of providing refugees with shelter. This serious burden had its impact on both inside Turkey and on the relationships of Turkey n the region and with the USA. What has not changed it that Turkey and the US are partners in the framework of NATO. We have cooperated with Turkey in the fight against terrorism both in Syria and in Iraq; Turkey implements a serious function in the fight against terrorism by air.”
However, in the opinion of the American diplomat we live very difficult times, serious incidents are taking place in the region that have serious influence on the interrelations of the US and Turkey yet according to him it is important not to lose the strategic interests in consequence of those minor changes.
“Our main, long-term objectives with Turkey have not changed. The US wants to see a stable, developed, prosperous and safe Turkey, we want to see such a Turkey that will be at peace both with itself, and with the neighbors, such Turkey that will be directed to the West, but for that it is a must for Turkey to be in harmony with itself and with the countries with which they have been enemies for years. And the US has this objective in the issue of relationships with Armenia. The USA continues to insist on the settlement of the relationship issue between Armenia and Turkey. But let’s be realistic; all that is going on now makes it clear that Turkey has much more problems to solve.”
The Armenia-Turkey protocols in 2009 showed that Armenia was ready to make the first step to sacrifice in the relationship settlement issue, Matthew Eussen noted,
“Now it is Turkey that should make the step. But there are serious dangers in those protocols, they touch upon a serious issue in the history. The settlement of the relationship between Armenia and Turkey has a great geopolitical factor, it will have a serious impact on the internal life of Armenia. But for the US the settlement between the two countries will lead to the fact that the borders between NATO and CSTO will be closer. The settlement of the relationships between Armenia and Turkey will limit the influence of RF that it has on Armenia. Very often the Turks ask what the settlement means to us, why we are interested in that, why Armenia is important if its economy is small and it does not have natural resources. The settlement of the relationships between Armenia and Turkey will enable the Turks to clarify their interrelations with RF; in response to the influence of RF it will enable Turkey to support the settlement the NK conflict. It is very difficult for Armenia to sit at one table with Azerbaijan, to go for concession, but Armenia will have greater opportunities to go for the settlement of this issue if the relationships with Turkey are settled.”
The US considers the settlement of the RA-Turkey relationship and the settlement of NK issue separately. During the question answering Matthew Eussen noted that the US had always seen the relationships of Armenia and Turkey as a separate issue, which was not connected with the NK conflict, the US had seen them as two different issues.
“This position may not match with the viewpoint of other states in the region but we continue to be consistent in our policy separating these two issues. If the RA-Turkey relationships are settled separate from the NK conflict, there will be serious bases for the settlement of NK issue. Turkey announces the opposite; if the NK issue is settled, the relationships between Armenia and Turkey will be settled. But we will continue considering these two issues separate from each other to make the settlement of these issues realistic. ”
The Russian presence in Armenia is justified by the public perception of a possible threat from Turkey; does the US have the levers to neutralize that threat? In answer to this question the American diplomat noted,
“Considering Turkey as a threat in Armenia has historical roots, and I will not even try to lessen the significance of that history. It is just possible that the danger from Turkey is exaggerated more than it really exist. However, Armenia’s choice in terms of maintaining the security of the borders is understandable and normal. Armenia is an autonomous state, he is responsible for his decisions, the decision of RA to have a military partner is the choice of Armenia. But it is also my country’s responsibility to suggest other options and opportunities for Armenia. There are other options that RA can choose to ensure its security but we all should be realistic and understand that, for example, at this moment the Armenia’s membership of NATO is not possible. But I will encourage if the population of Armenia clarifies inside what are the real dangers for RA and seek for other options to ensure the security. The choice is not limited only by Russia, by NATO, the choice should be based on the ideology what is more beneficial for Armenia.”
“Aravot” gave a question to Matthew Eussen, “What influence can have the serious collision in the interrelations between Russia and the West on the policy of the US implemented in the region and in Armenia taking into consideration the fact that RA is a member of CSTO, EEU and the Russian influence in Armenia?”
“The US has seriously fought for the interrelations with Russia for years. There were times when we could cooperate on quite serious issues. As a serious success of the joint work we can mention the removal of chemical weapons in Syria, we cooperated to ensure negotiations among the parties in Syria, as a successful example we can mention that when we had a joint agreement with Russia on the nuclear weapon of Iran. But it is not on all the issues that we can cooperate. When the question is about Ukraine, military activities in Syria, the recent hacker attacks in the US that can influence the elections, of course, these factors lessen our opportunities to cooperate with Russia. Definitely we can and we will continue to seek for other opportunities to cooperate with Russia but we will not cooperate with Russia by its conditions.”
EMMA GABRIELYAN
“Aravot” Daily
02.11.2016
