– Mr. Arzumanyan, the foreign relations committee of the US Congress adopted the resolution 252 on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Was this a progress on the way of the recognition of the Genocide? What consequences can this have? Do you find it possible for the US Congress to adopt it?
– As an Armenian, I should say that this was definitely one step forward on the way to the recognition of the Genocide and the recovery of the historic justice. But on the other hand, we have seen that the same story has been repeated in 2000, 2005 and 2007. The foreign relations committee adopted the resolution with the majority of votes and then the speaker refused to submit the resolution to the full session of the Congress. I am sure that this resolution will have the same destiny. Moreover, because of this awkward policy of the Armenian government it will be easier for the US Congress to drop the discussion of the resolution by conditioning it with the launched process of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations. The Congress will be convinced not to hinder the rapprochement process. So this is rejoicement, which will lastly cause disappointment. We have been through these phases before.
– But maybe the US Congress may adopt the resolution this time because of the reluctance of the Turkish side to ratify the Armenia-Turkey protocols? Previously when the Congress denounced the resolution there were no such protocols on the table and neither was there a reconciliation process, was there?
– I exclude this. The US pursues only its national interest. Turkey has a key role in this region and is the most important ally of the US. Taking this fact into account the Presidents of the US Clinton and Bush have persuaded the Congress to denounce the resolution. Obama will do the same thing. There is a good explanation to this. Currently negotiations are proceeding and there is no need to hinder the process. By the way, I should say that even the change of dynamics of the voting shows that this argument already works for the Congress. In 2007 the same committee adopted the resolution with 26 yeas and 20 nays. Moreover 23 of the current 46 members of the committee have been in the same committee in 2003 and voted for the resolution. According to the Armenian lobbyists those 23 votes should have been there. And 2 of the 6 newly elected Congressmen are the authors of the resolution, which of course means that they should have voted for the resolution. Thus, they knew that these 25 votes were in the pocket of the Armenian lobby. But the change of the ratio of the votes shows that the argument of the US President’s administration and the Turkish side will ban the normalization process of the Armenia-Turkey relations. The administration hasn’t used its resource to ban the voting because they don’t see any danger in this. Only Obama at the last moment requested to avoid the voting. Clinton did the same. But if the issue reaches the level of being discussed in the full session of the Congress then the administration will use all of its resources to ban the process. By this the US gained an additional lever of pressure on Turkey and Turkey received a big reason why it should fail the ratification of the protocols. They have always said that as long as there is no essential progress in the resolution of the NKR conflict they will never ratify the protocols. This time the Constitutional Court decision served as another reason for that. Now they will say that as the US Congress Committee adopted the resolution they will not ratify the protocols. And Armenia remained with nothing. The authorities of Turkey got a little offended but this is in the limits of the rules of the game.
– But this resolution was also a call addressed to Obama to recognize the Genocide.
– During the past 30 years all the US presidential candidates have promised to recognize the Genocide in the event that they are elected. But all of them stepped down their promises one by one.
– In that case can we say that the process of rapprochement of the Armenian-Turkish relations has faded and the ratification of the protocols failed?
– At the moment of signing the protocols I have said for hundreds of times that Turkey links the issue of normalization of relations with the resolution of the NKR conflict. Turkey has numerously stated that it will open the border only when the troops of Armenian are removed from the NKR. This approach has never changed. Turkey insists that these two processes are linked. And Armenia has given its consent but continues exclaiming that there are no preconditions. Currently the situation is alerting both inside Armenia and outside. Everything got so entangled that there is only one way out – the government should resign, new elections should be held and the constitutional order in the country should be restored. The newly legitimately elected government will be able to conduct a policy based on the actual interests of its people. The country is one the edge of destruction in all of the sectors. The Armenian-Turkish relations are only a small component of this.
– Isn’t it possible to find a way without resignation and new elections? The Armenian government has numerously said that if Turkey doesn’t ratify the protocols they will deflect from the process. They have even made necessary legislative changes for that as well.
– In the Armenian-Turkish process the subjects are not Armenia and Turkey. There are so many role-players and interested parties, who will not let Armenia make decisions on its own. And Armenia appeared in a trap because of the fact that the two issues were linked. Thus, by deflecting from one you cannot save the other one. The situation is so tense that they should even take concrete steps to fulfill the promises or find ways to avoid. And I have mentioned the best option and that is the resignation of the government. Finally the newly elected government can avoid the outside pressure and will take steps, which derive from the national interests of Armenia and not in Brussels or Moscow.
– Information was publicized, according to which even if the protocols are sent to the Turkish parliament those will be ratified with certain rectifications and objections, which assume certain preconditions for the Armenian side. This is a response to the decision of the Armenian Constitutional Court. According to these preconditions concrete steps should be taken to get rid of the occupied NKR.
– This was a slap and they are even teasing the RA government. Yes, the sides are clinging to bubbles but the standpoints are clear. And this is a version for avoiding ratification. They are saying that the decision of the Constitutional Court resembles preconditions and they will in their turn bring up their own preconditions. This is a way to persuade the international community that it is the fault of Armenia. This is a policy of marring each other and humiliating policy.
– The government has always stated that the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process and the protocols were initiated by the US and the latter will never let Turkey fail it.
– It would be good if the governmental front thought what should be done to make Armenia a decent country and not contemplate what will be allowed by superpowers to this other country. It is one of the oldest agonies of Armenia to wait for the deeds of other countries. We should take care of our own issues. Whatever the US does it will derive from its national interests. And during this historic momentum the interests of Turkey and the US match.