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Turkey rejects Armenian court view of historic reconciliation

© RIA Novosti . CollageTurkey-Armenia
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The Turkish Foreign Ministry said a formal blessing by the Armenian Constitutional Court for last year's historic accord aimed at ending a century of hostility between the two nations contained preconditions which could hamper its realization.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said a formal blessing by the Armenian Constitutional Court for last year's historic accord aimed at ending a century of hostility between the two nations contained preconditions which could hamper its realization.

The Armenian court ruled that the main provisions in the two Armenian-Turkish protocols signed last October - namely opening the border and establishing diplomatic relations - had to be observed for any of them to be valid.

"It has been observed that this decision contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the protocols," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on its website.

The decision "undermines the very reason for negotiating these protocols as well as their fundamental objective," the Turkish statement said. "This approach cannot be accepted on our part."

Turkey said it maintained its adherence to the primary provisions of the protocols and expected the same allegiance from the Armenian government.

Many political forces in Armenia have denounced the deal with Turkey as treason, arguing that Ankara should recognize the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as genocide. Turkey rejects the genocide label.

The accords were legally challenged and on January 12 the Armenian Constitutional Court declared them to be in line with the constitution.

The court said in a statement that the actions of a third party could have no affect on the bilateral agreement.

"The mutual obligations being undertaken... are, under the principles of international law, exclusively of a bilateral interstate nature, and cannot concern, or by various references, be attributed to, any third party," it said.

The court also said the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of common border had "an interrelated underlying significance."

"Any other obligation prescribed by the protocols can have international legal effect only if the existing border is open and concrete diplomatic relations exist" between the two states.

The two countries have had no diplomatic relations since Armenia became independent following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in a show of support for Azerbaijan following a bloody conflict over Nagorny Karabakh, in which some 35,000 died on both sides. The largely ethnic Armenian region in Azerbaijani territory has remained in Armenian control.

Tensions remain high between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with both Caucasus states continuing the exchange of allegations of ceasefire violations over the disputed region, and Azerbaijan threatening to use force if talks yield no results.

YEREVAN, January 19 (RIA Novosti)

 

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