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State officials are failing to hold the line

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There are a number of disputes tied to the protocols under which long-estranged Armenia and Turkey are expected to open official talks.

There’s the future of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed enclave within the borders of Azerbaijan that is home to many ethnic Armenians but that also has close ties to Turkey.

There’s the land disputes between the two countries on the eastern front.

But above all, there’s the condition for a historical commission to investigate the veracity of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated under Turkey’s forbearer, the Ottoman Empire.

Between 1915 and 1918, about 1.2 million Armenians were massacred by Ottoman Turks — a truism officially recognized by just about every national government and international agency, except, that is, the United States.

Armenians the world over are right to protest the historical commission.

While we agree with those who argue improved bilateral relations between the two countries is long overdue, and that these talks are a necessary first step, it’s a farce to start down the path of friendship under false pretenses.

Clearly, Turkey is setting the stage for a controversial, if not wholly inaccurate, “historical finding” by the commission years after the two countries have made enough political concessions to make withdrawal from talks a near impossible, if not nuclear, option.

That Armenian state officials would even consider the possible set up is frustrating given the hard line they’ve maintained for decades.

As the mass demonstration in Pelanconi Park and the hunger strike across from the Armenian Consulate so adequately proved, there is little-to-no support for caving in now.


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