Protocols Aren’t Dead, Says ARF’s Manoyan

YEREVAN (Yerkir Media)—Claims that the dangerous Turkey-Armenia Protocols are dead are not true, said Armenian Revolutionary Federation Political Affairs Director Giro Manoyan Wednesday during a press conference marking the third anniversary of the signing of the Protocols in Zurich.

“They are alive legally and are legal documents,” said Manoyan warning of the possibility that Turkey may ratify the protocols and force Armenia to do so on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Calling the protocols pro-Turkish, Manoyan reminded the audience that President Serzh Sarkisian had declared that if Turkey did not ratify the documents in “within a rational timeframe” Armenia, using avenues guaranteed by international law, “would revisit its approach” to the protocols.

Manoyan said Turkey continues to announce that the Protocols are not dead and that the Turkish government is working on them. In reality, however, they are not doing anything on that front. He said that the only positive aspect in the past three years in Armenia was the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which expressed concerns about some of the provisions of the protocols.

Manoyan explained that the Constitutional Court’s opinion gives cause for concern that certain protocol elements do pose a national security threat for Armenia, saying this fact has not prompted “the authors of the ‘football diplomacy’ to resign from them.”

“Armenia has distinct reasons for to pull back its signature and it must to do so in the shortest amount of time as possible,” said Manoyan. He explained that the current Armenian regime strives to look good in the eyes of certain countries and as a result will not pull its signature from the protocols until next year’s presidential elections.

“The stability of the region is not contingent of the Protocols and our stability will not be affected if Armenia were to withdraw its signature. On the contrary, that will demonstrate that we are a self-sufficient state and we are guided by our interests,” added Manoyan.