TURKEY • DIPLOMACY Friday, April 23 2010 23:23 GMT+2


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Friday, April 23, 2010

Vercihan Ziflioğlu

YEREVAN, Armenia - Hürriyet Daily News

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, during his address to the nation, in Yerevan, Armenia. AP photo.

Armenian President Serge Sarkisian’s statement that the government has frozen all protocols signed with Turkey hit headlines in Armenia on Friday, as Yerevan-based news outlets looked to Turkey to assess the extent of the damage.

Turkish media broke the story Thursday afternoon, while Yerevan waited until the evening for a confirmation from the government. At 7:30 p.m. local time in Armenia, Sarkisian delivered a statement broadcast live on TV and radio, stressing that the protocols were not “suspended” but “withdrawn.”

The news came as a shock for many Armenians, who were also caught off guard exactly one year ago when Turkey and Armenia announced to the world they had reached a consensus on normalizing relations.

 The Armenian opposition, mostly the Dashnak Party, which bashed the Sarkisian administration last year due to the protocol, has endorsed a mellow attitude this time.

“It was a mistake to sign the protocols in the first place,” Siranuys Papayan, an academic, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on the streets of the Armenian capital. “Turkey tried to make a good image of itself by signing these protocols in an attempt to show to the international community that it wishes for good relations with its neighbors. [But] Turkey was imposing preconditions on us, namely giving up on the Karabakh and the genocide issues.”

Papayan also criticized the Sarkisian government. “Why did they sign them in the first place and why are they withdrawing now?”

“The public had always been against the protocols,” said an Armenian, declining to give his name. “Sarkisian came to power through treachery. They had to do something to throw dust into people’s eyes and that is why they started negotiations with Turkey. But it did not turn out the way they had expected. The government is responsible for what has happened.”

An architect, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the course of events were important not only for Turkey and Armenia, but also for the entire region. “We must bear in mind that the U.S., the EU and Russia have their own interests in the region. They would not like the process to be suspended. The process could gain a new dimension in the days ahead.”

Speaking at the Yerevan State University, an 18-year-old student said it was long foreseen that the process was “doomed.”