Armenia hints at rescinding protocols as Turkey stalls

Yerevan retains hope that Ankara will move to ratification

by Armenian Reporter staff

Published: Thursday December 17, 2009

President Serge Sargsyan at a press conference on Dec. 10. Hayk Badalyan / Photolure

Related Articles

Ankara drops the ball

Erdogan rules out ratification of protocols without progress on Karabakh (update 3)

Yerevan - Two months after the Armenia-Turkey protocols were signed, they remain unimplemented, as Turkey firmly links ratification to progress in the Karabakh talks. Speaking on December 10, Armenia's President Serge Sargsyan said the linkage was unacceptable, and that he would not tolerate indefinite delays.

"Our country is ready to ratify and implement the protocols signed in Zurich in accordance with our international obligations in a sensible timeframe, without setting a precondition to Turkey regarding the recognition of the Armenian Genocide," Mr. Sargsyan said in remarks following a meeting with the visiting president of Latvia, according to his press office.

"We hope that the Turkish side will use this historic opportunity and will not put in doubt the long and difficult process that has been going on for the last year and half," the president added.

When asked by Armenia TV about the Karabakh-related demands repeated earlier in the week in Washington by Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr. Sargsyan said they were "unequivocally doomed to failure."

"If Turkey procrastinates [on] ratification, Armenia will undoubtedly exercise the rights stipulated by international law," the president warned, announcing that he had "instructed the corresponding state bodies to draft amendments to our national legislation pertaining to the signing, ratification, and abrogation of international agreements."

"Everyone should understand that the longer the process of ratification lingers, the more obstacles will stand in its way. Political developments may become obstacles," he said.

Mr. Sargsyan noted that on January 12, Armenia's Constitutional Court would rule on the question of whether the protocols are consistent with Armenia's Constitution. He said this fact was proof that Armenia was moving ahead with the ratification process. Under the country's basic law, treaties are subject to constitutional review prior to ratification.

"Given simple comparison of protocols and the Constitution, there are no contradictions; so, most likely, the Constitutional Court of Armenia will give its positive conclusion," constitutional law expert Hrayr Tovmasyan said on December 15, according to the Mediamax news agency.

But, Mr. Tovmasyan added, the court's approval would not prevent Armenia from recalling its signature on the protocols, if it so chooses. Such a step would be "more aggressive" than simple nonratification

Commenting on the developments last week, the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), which has campaigned against the protocols, argued that the Armenian government should exit the process and draw attention to Turkey's explicit refusal to proceed with ratification on the terms agreed to.

Vahan Hovhannesian, leader of the ARF faction in parliament, said, "In response to Ankara's statements, an adequate mechanism of reaction to the Turkish blackmail matures in the Armenian side," according to Mediamax. But whether Turkey ratifies the protocols or not, the ARF will continue to oppose ratification by Armenia, he said.

Khachik Harutyunyan, a member of parliament from the pro-presidential Country of Laws Party, praised the president's approach, saying, "The ball is in the Turkish part of the field, and the blame for failure of the protocol ratification process will fall on the Turkish side."

Meanwhile, member of parliament and former diplomat Aram Safaryan, a senior member of the Prosperous Armenia Party, part of the governing coalition, remained optimistic, predicting that "in January-February, the Turkish parliament will ratify the protocols without preconditions."