24/02/2015 20:09
Sharmazanov: Turkey has nothing to do in Karabakh peace process
As long ago as 2008 Armenia started the process of establishing relations with Turkey, which would have strengthened regional stability, the vice speaker of National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov said in the Armenian parliament today.
“While having a moral right to set preconditions, Armenia did not take that step, realizing that such preconditions do not constitute a language of democracy and dialog. Yet Turkey’s political leadership was throwing dust in the eyes of international community on the one hand and was setting preconditions for Armenia on the other hand,” Sharmazanpov said.
According to him, the Turkish political authorities’ false ideology called a policy of “zero problems with neighbors” actually ruined the opportunities of improving relations with almost all the neighbors.
“See for yourself: Cyprus, Greece, Syria, and finally Armenia. Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey, instead of abandoning its policy of denial and preconditions, links the Armenian-Turkish normalization to a settlement of the Karabakh conflict on the one hand, while on the other hand it puts the victim and the executioner on the same plane - instead of reconciling with its own past,” the vice speaker noted.
He stressed that Turkey has nothing to do in the Karabakh conflict settlement process. In his words, the key to a resolution of the Karabakh conflict is in the hands of the people of Artsakh. “The people of Nagorno Karabakh should decide their own fate,” Sharmazanov stated.
“We should rally round the issue of international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and also take steps in the struggle against the Turkish policy of denial,” he said.
According to Sharmazanov, the Armenian parliament should take serious measures in that direction. “I should note with satisfaction that the draft statement (developed by all the factions) on condemnation of the Genocide of Greeks and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire in 1914-1923 proves again that we are starting a new stage of the joint struggle,” he said.