US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN149

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000149 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, EUR/SE, EUR/SNEC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, TU, AM 
SUBJECT: PUBLIC BANTER ON KARS AGREEMENT PUTS OSKANIAN ON 
THE DEFENSIVE -- AND ON THE RECORD 
 
 
Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
1. (C) An exchange in the press between Armenian Foreign 
Minister Oskanian and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has 
captured what we believe is the most public acknowledgment by 
the GOAM's MFA (under the administration of President Robert 
Kocharian) of the validity Soviet-era border agreements. 
Responding to a local report citing Turkish daily Zaman's 
interview with PM Erdogan, Oskanian said on January 25 that 
the GOAM had never refuted the 1921 Kars Agreement nor had it 
signed international agreements that would reverse it. 
According to Oskanian's statement and local reporting, 
Erdogan prompted the official GOAM reaction by stating that, 
"If (the Armenians) don't recognize it, then we don't 
recognize it either."  The local press took particular note 
of Oskanian's naming of the Kars Agreement, but kept 
editorializing to a minimum.  Local (oppositionist) daily Azg 
made veiled comments suggesting that Erdogan's statement had 
been petulant, but would neither congratulate nor criticize 
Oskanian for his de facto recognition of the Kars Agreement. 
 
2. (C) In conversations with us, MFA officials were upbeat 
about Oskanian's willingness to talk about the Kars Agreement 
by name.  MFA Middle East Department Chief Karen Mirzoyan 
told us January 27 that "Erdogan's comment - and the need to 
respond - helped move us ahead."  He noted that not since a 
less-direct mention of the Kars Agreement in 2001 by MFA 
spokesperson Szyunik Aghajanyan had the MFA been willing to 
talk about the issue in such specific terms.  Mirzoyan 
suggested that a defensive posture at times helped the GOAM 
"air out issues" like the Kars Agreement, enabling them to 
gauge the latest reaction of both domestic politicians and 
counterparts in Turkey, while avoiding an appearance of 
"losing ground." 
 
3. (C) Comment:  Oskanian is already on record as stating 
that the GOAM has no designs on Turkish territory.  While he 
has specifically discussed the Kars Agreement with the 
diplomatic community on several occasions (most recently in 
November 2004 during a convocation of Ambassadors resident in 
Yerevan), Oskanian's carefully-worded public acknowledgment 
goes farther than any previous statements about the 
recognition of borders in recent years.  Most notable about 
the recent public exchange is the absence of push-back from 
extremist forces within the GOAM (including the Armenian 
Revolutionary Federation - "Dashnaksutyun") who normally 
decry anything they view as "conciliatory" to the Turkish 
side.  Now that Oskanian has specifically named the Kars 
Agreement in public, we will watch carefully to see if it 
finds its way into public statements by other political 
leaders or if it elicits a reaction from official Ankara. 
EVANS