On the eve of a visit to Azerbaijan, it appears that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is turning up the heat on Armenia, calling on Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to apologize for recent comments her reportedly made to a group of students, telling them it is their duty to liberate "western Armenia" (i.e. eastern Turkey). From Today's Zaman:
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had talks in Baku on Wednesday.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said in Baku that Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan should apologize for calling on school children to occupy eastern Turkey.Speaking at a joint news conference with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Erdoğan said Sarksyan's remarks did not befit a statesman and called them a “historical mistake” that should be corrected.
When asked by a student at a literature contest ceremony if Armenians will be able to get back their “western territories” along with Mt. Ararat, Sarksyan said, "This is the task of your generation.”
Armenians attach great historical and cultural importance to Mt. Ararat on the eastern border of modern-day Turkey, around where Armenians are believed to have first adopted Christianity as an official religion in 301 A.D.
Sarksyan said his generation had fulfilled its task by “getting back” Karabakh, a part of what he called “our motherland.” Nagorno-Karabakh is an Azerbaijani territory which is currently under Armenian occupation.
Leaders of both countries have met dozens of times to find a settlement to the decades-long conflict but have failed to secure a peace agreement. Armenia currently occupies 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territories, including seven adjacent provinces populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry also strongly condemned on Tuesday Sarksyan's remarks, calling the statement “very irresponsible behavior.”
Full article here.
In a statement, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs took Sarksyan to school, saying his reported words were not befitting the president of a country. From the statement:
One of the most important duties of a statesman is to prepare his/her own society, especially young people, for a peaceful, tranquil and prosperous future. It is completely irresponsible to advise young people by provoking enmity and hatred among nations. President Sargsian's remarks do not serve efforts to ensure peace in the region.
Erdogan's Wednesday visit to Azerbaijan comes on the heels of a recent visit to Cyprus, site of another stalled reconciliation process, where he also used strong language to describe the conflict there, saying that from Turkey's perspective, the "time for concessions has passed." More in this previous post.[UPDATE - The Armenian website Asbarez has an article up that actually quotes what Sarksyan said, which turns out to be a bit more complicated than a simple call to liberate "western Armenia." From the article:
A student asked Sarkisian whether Western Armenia, with Mount Ararat, will ever be united with Armenia.
“Everything depends on the young generation. Every generation has some goal to achieve,” said the President.
“The current generation defended and liberated a part of Armenian land. If the future generation makes much effort then Armenia will be one of the best states in the world,” said Sarkisian.
“Generally, the power of the state is not defined through its territory. The state should be modern, secure and prosperous. The Armenian people are able to achieve their goals. And they will if they believe in it,” added President Sargsyan.
So what was it? The President's words could definitely be interpreted as suggesting a "goal" of liberating Mount Ararat, but his last quote, which says the power of the state is not defined by territory, seems to suggest the next generation focus on other goals.
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