Expert on geopolitics in Caucasus, journalist Cem Oguz commented on the recent developments in the region in his interview with Turkish NTV channel "Turkey-Armenia protocols are dead projects," said he.
Asked about the tension between Turkey and Azerbaijan after Turkey signed protocols with Armenia, Oguz said, "The tension is almost over. Azerbaijan reacted seriously in the begining. They were thinking that Turkey let them alone. They claimed that Turkey did not share information. Afterwards, Turkish government officials started to make statements regarding to this issue one after another. Prime Minister Erdogan assured Azerbijani administration that borders will not be opened unless significant progress is achieved in Karabakh conflict resettlement. The tension is over now and both parties trust each other."
Asked about the fate of protocols, Oguz said, "If you ask me, protocols are dead projects. The point of failure is the decision of Armenian Constitutional Court over protocols. Why did Turkey accept these protocols? First of all, Turkey hoped that the resolutions that foreign parliaments pass would be suspended. Turkey also believed in the probablity of establishment of a committee of historians. Turkey calls Armenia to discuss "Armenian genocide" using historical documents in the archives. On the other hand, Armenia rejects that and says, "Why would i bring this issue into question when i already have it recognized?" Armenia pretends like it is not much interested and sometimes it panics. Because, as a researcher who studied on "Armenian genocide", i can tell you that there is no such genocide. If you check archive documents, you will see that there is no such thing."
Stating that Armenia politicizes history, Oguz said, "What are the arguments of Armenia? They refer to the works of missionaries or American Ambassador of that time. Or they refer to the fake documents or books such as Andonyan's telegraphs. Eric Zürcher states clearly that those are works that consist of fake documents. I mean, the arguments of Armenia are so controversial. On the other hand Turkey stresses that archives show that the incidents cannot be called a genocide. What kind of documents are there in the archives? For example there are documents showing that Ottoman government judged people who abused Armenian people during the displacement in 1915. There are also documents which show that government paid Armenian people for their expences in the way."
Stating that Ottoman government executed some of its officials due to abuses, Oguz said, "Those courts were established with the order of Talat Pasha. Ottomans already judged themselves because of the several mistakes during displacement of Armenians. The process in courts continued till 1916 and several people were penalized. Even this shows that the incidents does not consist a genocide. Therefore, Turkey always calls Armenia to discuss the incidents over archive documents. Would you accept such thing if you were in the place of Armenians? Armenians' arguments are all consist of secondary sources. Neither historians nor the science of history accept secondary sources as certain documents."
Stressing that establishment of committee of historians was the most vital part of Turkish-Armenian protocols, Oguz said, "It would be a sub-committee but it was so important for Turkey as Armenia had accepted such proposal for the first time. But then, Armenian Constitutional Court announced that it does not approve establishment of committee of historians. Therefore, Armenia killed the process. How can two countries achieve progress now?"
Stating that Turkish government took assurances from foreign countries to press Armenia towards resettlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Oguz said, "They told Erdogan that they will exert pressure on Armenia for resettlement of Nagorno-Karabakh problem if Turkey normalizes its relations with Armenia. Prime Minister made steps in accordance with these but not even a bit of progress could be achieved in the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia claims that Karabakh is Armenian territory but it also does not withdraw from 7 surrounding regions of Azerbaijan. They do not accept any proposal and they get everything they want from Turkey."
Historyoftruth.com
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