Constitutional Court of Armenia made a decision on Turkey-Armenia protocols’ conformity with the Armenian constitutional law on the demand of Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan.
On the other hand, the decision did not affect the process positively. Actually it caused crisis.
According to the justified decision of the court, every step in Turkish-Armenian process should be conforming with the 11th clause of Armenian Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
So, as the 11th clause states, Armenia has to stay within the frames of the Armenian foreign policy principal for providing international recognition of so called Armenian genocide.
Other than that, it is stated that protocols cannot solve existing problems between the states and further bilateral agreements are needed. The decision also reminds that border problems are still on the stage.
Constitutional Court of Armenia says, “Ok, you can ratify the protocols but you should follow the path I drive for you.”
Court also stresses that third countries cannot interfere the process by no means. Doing so, the court intends to prevent linking resettlement of Nagorno-Karabakh problem to Turkey-Armenia normalization.
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on January 18 and stated that Armenian court held an operation over the text of the protocols and the document became unacceptable for Turkey. Officials from Foreign Ministry stated that the decision of Armenian court conflicts with the spirit of protocols.
Following this development,Washington and Switzerland took action.
They proposed Ankara to have meetings before Ankara establishes direct contact with Armenia. They stressed that Sarksyan is under the pressure of Armenian opposition and the diaspora organizations,therebya direct reaction would totally wreck the process of normalization.
Representatives from Turkish Foreign Ministry are expected to visit Switzerland and United States within a few days. There, they will be told that the detailed ruling of Armenian Constitutional Court will have no effect on protocols. The statements that were made after the decision were also in that direction anyway.
We learnt that Ankara will ask for official assurance that the justified decision will not have effect on the protocols. It is expected that Ankara adminstration will have these assurances from Washington and Switzerland following these visits.
As these debates continue, Armenian officials announced that Armenia is working on a law draft that will authorize Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan for withdrawal of Armenia from the signed protocols.
As it is better understood with the latest decision of Armenian administration, Sarksyan government cannot any more endure the pressure of opposition.
If Turkey does not make steps to rescue the process of normalization, Armenian opposition parties and diaspora will have a material to press U.S. President Barack Obama to use the term “genocide” in his speech on April 24. All the effort is for that.
Both Turkish and Armenian governments are seem to be tired of the opposition pressureover protocols and they both seem like they search for reasons to withdraw from the agreement.
Ferai Tinc — Hurriyet
