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YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–The opposition Armenian
Revolutionary Federation denounced on Monday the U.S. State
Department for welcoming an Armenian Constitutional Court ruling
on Turkey that has sparked a diplomatic dispute between Yerevan
and Ankara, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
 ARF
leaders said the United States is interfering in Armenia’s
internal affairs and pressuring Yerevan to unconditionally
implement the controversial Turkish-Armenian agreements which is
considers by Armenian in the homeland and Diaspora to be a
sellout to Turkey.
While upholding the constitutionality of the
two “protocols,” the Constitutional Court ruled on January 12
that they place no obligations on Armenia with regard to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and cannot inhibit its pursuit of
greater international recognition of the Armenian genocide.
The ARF welcomed this court’s interpretation
of the U.S.-backed protocols, saying that the Armenian
parliament should include the corresponding reservations if it
were to ratify the agreements. Its top representatives said in
particular that the court effectively invalidated a protocol
clause that commits Armenia to explicitly recognizing the
existing border with Turkey.
The Turkish government has likewise claimed
that the ruling runs counter to the letter and spirit of the
deal and jeopardizes its implementation by Turkey. Armenia’s
leadership has brushed aside these claims, accusing Ankara of
seeking “artificial pretexts” for delaying its parliamentary
ratification.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Philip Gordon said on Friday that Washington regards the
judgment as a “positive step forward in the ratification process
of the normalization protocols” that “does not appear to limit
or qualify them in any way.” Armenian pro-government politicians
and media were quick to welcome the U.S. reaction as a crucial
endorsement of Yerevan’s position in the dispute.
“This U.S. statement is an unacceptable
interference in Armenia’s internal affairs,” said Giro Manoyan,
the party’s chief foreign policy spokesman, accusing Washington
of pressuring Yerevan into signing the agreements.
The Constitutional Court ruling is an
effective disagreement between the Executive and the Judicial
branches, which requires the court’s reservations to be
submitted with the agreements, Manoyan said. He described
Washington’s assertion that the court ruling paves the way for
an unconditional ratification as “a flagrant disregard towards
the Armenian Constitutional Court’s decision.”
“When a representative of a foreign state
tries to teach us some lessons I don’t think that is
acceptable,” Manoyan told RFE/RL.
Artsvik Minasian, a senior ARF member, agreed
with Manoyan. “It was a statement made a bit prematurely, and I
don’t think that it is only aimed at somehow benefiting
Armenia,” he said, commenting on Gordon’s remarks. “What is
more, I think that was a form of pressure on Armenia aimed at
making sure that we don’t ratify the protocols with
reservations,” he told RFE/RL.
Minasian said the ARF has drafted legal
amendments that would empower Armenia’s parliament to ratify
international treaties and agreements signed by the executive
branch with conditions or reservations. He said they will be
presented this week to 13 other mostly small opposition groups
aligned in an ARF-led coalition opposed to the protocols.
Leaders of those parties met at the ARF
headquarters in Yerevan over the weekend to discuss their
further actions. One of them, Armen Martirosian of the Heritage
party said he believed that the parliament majority loyal to
President Serzh Sarkisian will unconditionally endorse the
protocols should they be put to the vote and would not respect
the legislation.
A deputy chairman of Sarkisian’s Republican
Party of Armenia, which has a clear majority in the National
Assembly, confirmed that. “If we add reservations to the
protocols, the Turks will never ratify them,” Razmik Zohrabian
told RFE/RL. “We should therefore avoid any reservations.”
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