US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1470

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001470 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PBTS, AM, TU 
SUBJECT: HIGH TIME FOR ARMENIAN RECOGNITION OF THE TURKISH 
BORDER 
 
REF: YEREVAN 434 
 
(U) Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch, E.O. 12958, reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Reftel sets forth the Armenian government's non-paper 
on relations with Turkey.  We constantly press the Turks to 
decouple Turkish-Armenian relations from Nagorno-Karabakh and 
the occupied territories, and to come to terms honestly with 
the history of events in 1915. 
 
2.  (C)  In addition to the Armenian Declaration of 
Independence's references to "restoring historical justice" 
and "Western Armenia" (referring to territory in Turkey), 
Turks also note that Article 13 of the Armenian Constitution 
requires that Mount Ararat, located in Turkey, be part of the 
Armenian national coat of arms, together with the coats of 
arms of the four kingdoms of historical Armenia, much of 
whose territory is located inside Turkey. 
 
3.  (C) Absent explicit recognition of the current border by 
Armenia, the above references provide ammunition to Turkey to 
resist reasonable proposals to ease relations.  Armenian 
government statements in reftel that "the reader can judge 
for himself" whether or not Armenia recognizes the border, 
and that explicit recognition will have to wait until formal 
relations are established, only fuel Turkish arguments.  An 
explicit statement of recognition would remove an excuse for 
Turkey not to move forward. 
EDELMAN