Armenian-Turkish relations have reached a crucial stage where extreme caution, diplomatic prowess, foresight and prudence are the most essential factors which may pull Armenia out of the quagmire in which it is immersed.
Armenia is a young state and needs all the necessary experiences and resources it can get from all parties concerned.
Diaspora politics and politicians have always operated in the vacuum; therefore they are ill equipped to deal with real-world politics. The best contribution that they can make to help the situation is to exercise caution and avoid unnecessary blunders.
Regional and world powers are arguably after their own selfish interests; therefore they cannot be rated as friends or foes. In fact,
they were the real motivators to bring Turkey and Armenia together and begin the process of negotiations. At the end of the day, the smartest dealer will come out as the winner.
Now let us analyze how sober our political savvy is and how prudent our actions are in this highly sensitive situation.
Armenia is facing an opponent — namely Turkey — which has almost a millennium of diplomatic experience, having run empires and having clashed with equally formidable empires. And today it is equipped with one of the most powerful armies in the NATO alliance, and is sitting on a most strategic asset in the region.
We have always underestimated Turkish leaders’ diplomatic prowess at our own peril. And yet, we still have the tendency to act recklessly before a very grave political situation. The political reality is not a stark black and white and to reduce it to simple formulates and event to cheap slogans may cost us dearly. Unfortunately, that is what we are witnessing at this time by the agitators who have been wreaking havoc by inciting some segments of the public to stage senseless acts.
Obviously, very few people have read the protocols signed by the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey on October 10, in Zurich,
Switzerland. Even fewer people have understood the political and historic implications behind the terms used in the texts. To interpret those texts tendentiously and to frame them as “selling Karabagh to the Azeris” or “giving in on the Genocide issue” or worse “disclaiming historic Armenian territories,” is a disservice to the public; and using those simplifications as a premise to promote partisan agendas is a crime of historic proportions.