Armenia did not set any preconditions to Turkey, but the latter did not prove so “kind,” the ARF Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisyan stated today.

He read out the preconditions, which, the party believes, have been set by Turkey: Armenia’s renouncing its demand for the admission of Armenian Genocide by Turkey; recognition of Turkey’s borders of 1920; concessions to Azerbaijan. “We view the Armenian President and the Foreign Minister seeking prompt results by means of negotiations as at least carelessness on their part. Our people may pay a very high price for that,” Hovhannisyan said. He listed Turkey’s achievements and Armenia’s losses over the last 14 months of the so-called football diplomacy.

Among Turkey’s achievements are a frozen process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey’s growing influence worldwide, higher probability of its admission to the European Union. As regards Armenia, it has only been sustaining losses: U.S. President Barack Obama did not keep his promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide; the U.S. court decided to deprive the descendants of the Genocide survivors of their right to compensation; Russia is more and more disregarding Armenia’s interests in its policy; the process of Diaspora’s alienation from Armenia is gaining momentum; a Turkish diplomat first insulted the Armenia President to go to Turkey “by air.” Hovhannisyan is sure that the above is enough to state the following fact: negotiations with Turkey, not yet finished, have caused great damage to Armenia’s national interests and its international reputation.