US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN769

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 YEREVAN 000769 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, AM, TU 
SUBJECT:  GOAM RELEASES TEXT OF KOCHARIAN-ERDOGAN 
LETTER, EXPLANATORY NON-PAPER 
 
REF:  YEREVAN 707 
 
1. (U) Sensitive But Unclassified.  Please treat 
accordingly. 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
2. (SBU)  While the final text of the letter from 
President Kocharian to his Turkish counterpart Prime 
Minister Erdogan stuck broadly to the outline that 
Foreign Minister Oskanian gave us April 21 (reftel), 
it differed slightly in tone.  The text of the 
letter and accompanying non-paper from the MFA 
follow.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
TEXT OF GOAM DIPLOMATIC NOTE NO. 25/04746 
----------------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) The unofficial Embassy translation of the 
diplomatic note follows.  Begin Text: 
 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
of the Republic of Armenia 
 
No. 25/04746 
 
The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia 
presents its compliments to all the Embassies 
accredited to the Republic of Armenia, the U.N., the 
OSCE, Representatives of the European Commission and 
the Council of Europe and has the honor to present 
an unofficial English translation of the letter sent 
by His Excellency Robert Kocharian, President of the 
Republic of Armenia to His Excellency the Prime 
Minister of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip 
Erdogan on April 25, as well as comments on and 
clarifications of the letter. 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of 
Armenia avails itself of this opportunity to renew 
to all the Embassies accredited to the Republic of 
Armenia, the U.N., the OSCE, Representatives of the 
European Commission and the Council of Europe the 
assurances of its highest consideration. 
 
Yerevan, April 27, 2005 
 
-------------------------------- 
TEXT OF KOCHARIAN-ERDOGAN LETTER 
-------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) Begin text: 
 
April 25 
 
H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan 
Prime Minister 
Republic of Turkey 
Ankara 
 
Dear Prime Minister, 
 
I'm in receipt of your letter.  Indeed, as two 
neighbors, we both must work to find ways to live 
together in harmony.  That is why, from the first 
day, we have extended our hand to you to establish 
relations, open the border, and thus start a 
dialogue between the two countries and two peoples. 
 
There are neighboring countries, particularly on the 
European continent, who have had a difficult past, 
about which they differ.  However, that has not 
stopped them from having open borders, normal 
relations, diplomatic ties, representatives in each 
other's capitals, even as they continue to discuss 
that which divides them. 
 
Your suggestion to address the past cannot be 
effective if it deflects from addressing the present 
and the future.  In order to engage in a useful 
dialog, we need to create the appropriate and 
conducive political environment.  It is the 
responsibility of governments to develop bilateral 
relations and we do not have the right to delegate 
that responsibility to historians.  That is why we 
have proposed and propose again that, without pre- 
conditions, we establish normal relations between 
our two countries. 
 
In that context, an intergovernmental commission can 
meet to discuss any and all outstanding issues 
between our two nations, with the aim of resolving 
them and coming to an understanding. 
Sincerely, 
 
Robert Kocharian 
 
End Text. 
 
--------------------- 
TEXT OF MFA NON-PAPER 
--------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) The following is the text of the MFA non- 
paper (original in English) that accompanied the 
above diplomatic note.  Begin Text: 
 
-- The content of the letter President Kocharian 
received from Prime Minister Erdogan is not new. The 
call for historians to discuss the 'events of 1915' 
is a call that has been made by every single Turkish 
administration each time they are confronted with 
strong signs of international interest and attention 
to the Genocide and issues having to do with 
recognition. 
 
-- This is the first time that this kind of proposal 
has been presented in writing, from the highest 
level.  Therefore, President Kocharian has responded 
to Prime Minister Erdogan, even though we have 
serious concerns about their seriousness and 
sincerity. 
 
-- Our concerns are caused by several factors: 
 
-- First, the letter appeared in the Turkish press 
before it arrived in Yerevan; 
 
-- Second, it was immediately distributed in the US 
Congress with the clear implication that the process 
of 'rapprochement' and 'reconciliation' are underway 
and that any US action (such as a Congressional 
resolution) are unnecessary; 
 
-- Third, the Turkish penal code still penalizes 
citizens for using the term 'genocide' in the 
Armenian context.  Indeed, two current court cases 
against writer Orhan Pamuk and publisher Ragip 
Zaraoklu are still pending. 
 
-- Fourth, the Turkish Parliament held hearings in 
mid-April on the Armenian issue and issued a 
statement not only confirming their own revisionist 
efforts, but also blatantly calling on third 
countries (such as the UK) to revisit, review and 
revise their own archives. 
 
-- Nevertheless, President Kocharian's letter 
reiterated the Armenian position:  Armenia is ready 
to discuss any issue, at the intergovernmental 
level.  The ideal way to do that would be to have 
diplomatic relations.  Even if that is not 
immediately achievable, there can still be some 
normalcy in relations, open borders, easy 
communication and travel between our two countries 
and our representatives. 
 
-- Armenia has no preconditions to establishing 
relations and opening borders.  All bilateral 
problems and issues, including Genocide, can be 
discussed once relations are established. 
 
-- Turkey uses three different excuses to explain 
their maintaining closed borders.  One is Armenia's 
insistence on Genocide recognition.  (Armenia's 
response is that genocide recognition and 
remembrance is a moral issue that cannot be dropped, 
but Armenia does not make such recognition or 
remembrance a precondition to relations.) 
 
-- The second excuse is that Armenians have not 
reaffirmed Turkey's territorial integrity. 
(Armenia's response is that the Kars treaty which 
defines the current border between Armenia and 
Turkey has neither been revoked nor renounced. 
Further, since independence, no Armenian official 
has made any territorial claims of Turkey.) 
 
-- The third excuse is the still unresolved Nagorno 
Karabakh conflict. (Armenia's response is that this 
is a problem with a third country, and is unrelated 
to our bilateral relations.) 
 
-- We fervently hope that Prime Minister Erdogan 
will respond positively to President Kocharian's 
proposal to normalize relations, so that we can 
address the most complicated problems. 
 
Yerevan 
April 27, 2005 
End Text. 
EVANS