2009-04-05 22:51:10 - YEREVAN, 5 March 2009 -- The Armenian Yerkir Media TV reports that Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Nalbandian, did not get on the Yerevan-Istanbul flight late this evening, after issuing a terse response to announcements made by Turkish President Gul and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan that Turkey will not lift its blockade of Armenia unless Armenia fulfils Turkish preconditions regarding the Mountainous (Nagorno) Karabagh issue and the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Responding to a question by the Interfax news agency, the Armenian Foreign Minister said: "The establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations should be realized without any preconditions and with that understanding we have been and are conducting the negotiations with the Turkish side.

"The establishment of relations is not related to the resolution of the Karabagh issue and that issue has not

been discussed during the negotiations aimed at establishing Armenian-Turkish relations.

"It has been said many times and I wish to stress again that the establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations can not put into question the veracity of the Armenian Genocide.

"Tens of countries and international organizations have recognized the Armenian genocide and Armenia has hailed that recognition.

"I think that the announcements that put forward preconditions to the establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations can be viewed as an attempt to fail the advances registered during the negotiations," concludes Foreign Minister Nalbandian.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry distributed Minister Nalbandian's response just before the Armavia flight from Yerevan to Istanbul, at 23:06.

The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs was to attend a two-day United Nations cultural forum in Istanbul. The Armenian Minister’s now failed visit was seen by the U.S. and Turkish media as a step towards the establishment of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia, which Turkey has refused since Armenia gained its independence in 1991.

The Armenian Foreign Minister’s derailed visit to Turkey was to coincide with U.S. President Barack Obama’s official visit to Turkey. Analysts had pointed to the issue of the Armenian Genocide as possibly the most challenging for the president to deal with during his talks with Turkish officials.

On several occasions during his campaign for president, Obama had committed himself to properly recognize the massacres and deportations of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Turkey continues to vehemently deny that there was any genocidal intent towards the Armenians in the last years of the empire. Official Ankara spends millions of dollars in its denial campaign, which lobbies politicians, entices support from journalists, funds academic denial efforts, suppresses education efforts on the Armenian Genocide to the general public in North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East (Israel especially).

The main battlefield for genocide recognition in recent years has been the United States, where a majority of Members of Congress support passing a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Turkish officials had hoped that the recent rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia can be used as a bargaining chip to keep Obama from speaking the truth. On numerous occasions in recent months, top Turkish officials have warned the U.S. that interfering in discussions between Turkey and Armenia and recognizing the genocide would be detrimental to the budding relations between Yerevan and Ankara.

Now, announcements by the Turkish Prime Minister and the Turkish President, resetting preconditions to the establishment of diplomatic relations with Armenia and to the lifting of the blockade have actually led the Armenia-Turkey negotiations into a rocky road or maybe even an impasse.

Related links:

www.anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=1677

www.hairenik.com/weekly/2009/04/03/armenian-intellectuals-leader ..