How will Ankara respond to Pashinyan's messages?
The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, hosted a group of journalists invited from Turkey, including a reporter from Agos, answered their questions, and made comprehensive assessments. The full text of his statements, which also resonated in the Turkish media, is available on our website.
Some of his statements were not surprising, while others offered new perspectives. Perhaps his most notable statement was regarding the Armenian Genocide. He said: "Our official position is that the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not among our foreign policy priorities today..." He immediately added: "In our reality, it is impossible to deny or abandon this, because it is an undeniable fact for all of us. However, the issue is not about that."
So what is the issue about? Pashinyan further elaborates on this approach: "Where and how should we focus on serving Armenia's state interests, and where and how should we emphasize and rely on the facts we know, including historical facts?"
He answers his own question:
"The average perception in the Republic of Armenia is that Turkey poses a threat to Armenia's security. And I guess that sometimes the political discourse used in Armenia, if not at the official level - though occasionally at the official level too - can be perceived as a threat by Turkey. Here is what I want to say: Perhaps we have lost causality along the way, meaning we have long missed the point of identifying what is the cause and what is the effect. Just because we missed this point, we experienced many difficulties and disasters due to these perceptions. But now, there is an opportunity to change this perception and the formulation of this problem. As the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, I want to use that historical opportunity."
These are probably important messages that should be underlined.
It is also significant that Pashinyan, as the President of Armenia, is hosting a large group of journalists from Turkey for the first time and delivering such messages in this atmosphere. It's clear that he actually wants to say something to Ankara. And he says that perceptions are changing. He gives this example:
"For instance, when I have meetings with leaders of different countries in New York and share small snippets of these meetings on my Facebook page, I notice upon my return to the country that the most shared, most watched, most liked meeting by our social media users is my meeting with the President of Turkey. I notice this and I'm surprised."
Ultimately, Pashinyan wants to advance the normalization process with Turkey and develop regional cooperation.
So what position is Ankara taking here? Yes, it had initiated the "normalization" process, but despite the mutual decision to open borders at least to third-country citizens and diplomatic passport holders in the first phase, Turkey is not taking steps.
Armenia, on the other hand, has renovated the crossing point and customs buildings on its side of the border, and even organized a visit to the border gate for the visiting journalists from Turkey.
Turkey is in a waiting position on this issue. So what is Turkey waiting for? It appears to be waiting for Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace agreement. Armenia is ready for this as well.
Then what is Azerbaijan waiting for? The provision of the Zangezur Corridor and amendments to Armenia's Constitution.
In other words, while in the course of the normalization process both Turkey and Armenia state "no preconditions," Turkey actually has a precondition. While these preconditions contradict the spirit of the normalization process, one day after Pashinyan's statements, news broke that Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed on a peace agreement.
The announcement came from Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, yet Baku did not accept to issue a joint statement. Armenia officially confirmed the agreement. Apparently, Armenia has accepted the condition that the EU Mission serving at the border must leave the country, and both countries will withdraw the lawsuits they have filed against each other at international courts.
Azerbaijan's (and Turkey's) demand for the Zangezur Corridor and Aliyev's demand for amending Armenia's Constitution have been postponed for now, yet how much later is not clear.
The Zangezur Corridor, as is known, is a demand that Turkey and Azerbaijan keep on the agenda and insist upon. It's a corridor that will connect Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan, passing through the Armenian territory. It will not be under Armenia's control. Armenia naturally opposes this and promotes its "Crossroads of Peace" project. The latter is a much more comprehensive proposal that includes Russia and Iran, and it actually addresses the demands of Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The constitution issue is as follows: Azerbaijan claims that there are references to "Nagorno-Karabakh" in Armenia's Constitution and demands that Armenia amends its constitution. Pashinyan has already initiated work to introduce amendments to the constitution, though not for this reason, and he reminds that international agreements take precedence over the constitution.
In summary, Pashinyan is ready, and Armenia and Azerbaijan have reached a certain stage.
In this case, let's ask our question to Ankara: What are we waiting to open the border and establish relations?
