Turkey Enters Process with Preconditions: Mamijanyan

The leader of the Republican Party, one of the two parties that make up the "Honorary" faction in the National Assembly, has been an architect of one of the processes aimed at normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey. The faction has repeatedly expressed its views on normalization without preconditions.

This was stated by Hayk Mamijanyan, the Secretary of the "Honorary" faction, from the podium of the National Assembly. He emphasized that the issue is that, based on statements from various officials in Turkey, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it is clear that Turkey is entering a process with preconditions.

“This process cannot take place behind the back of the people because we have primarily learned about each ongoing event from Çavuşoğlu (Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu) and then from the Armenian Foreign Ministry, while no information was shared regarding the informal meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries in Stockholm. This process cannot happen at the expense of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, although Çavuşoğlu has already stated that they consult and agree on every step with Azerbaijan,” said Mamijanyan.

“This process cannot occur at the expense of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, although we have already seen the expression from the Foreign Ministry. This process cannot happen while ignoring the opinion of the diaspora, without listening to and consulting the diaspora. This process cannot take place silently, swallowing all the atrocities and crimes committed by Turkey during the 44-day war and having the audacity to officially acknowledge them. The Vice President of Turkey noted during their budget presentation that Turkish special services participated in the 44-day war, to which the Armenian side responded with zero reaction,” added Mamijanyan.

The Secretary of the "Honorary" faction stressed that the normalization of relations cannot occur at the expense of the negotiations regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Hayk Mamijanyan recalled that after the April 2016 war, a statement was disseminated by the OSCE Minsk Group, of which Turkey is also a member, emphasizing the principle of non-use of force, while Turkey was a direct participant in this war.

He considers it illogical to initiate the process during the supposedly outgoing presidency of Turkey, as next year is an election year in Turkey and Erdoğan's chances of re-election are very low. “Erdoğan is considered a leader with pan-Turkist ambitions,” concluded Mamijanyan.