In fact, depriving a delegation of voting rights, or other «lighter» sanctions may simply put these countries on a «wrong» track. In our opinion, European as well as all the international organizations follow exactly this policy and not the infamous strategy of double standards. The policy of holding the unstable states on a «short leash» proved fairly effective not solely for Armenia. If the Armenian Delegation were to be deprived of voting rights, similar measures had to be applied against Azerbaijan and Georgia too, not to mention the mass disorders in Greece late in 2008 that resulted in the death of a teenager and caused real chaos in Athens. However sad it may be, European structures, and not only them, limit themselves to «fatherly suggestions» that have long stopped to draw any interest, except that of the offended opposition in certain countries. The latter, like in Armenia, is guided by one single policy – the worse the country feels, the better for us. And who said that democracy is the best form of government? According to Sir Winston Churchill, "Democracy is the worst form of government, but unfortunately, all the others are so much the worse."
This week also marked the visit of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation, as well as the meetings in Zurich between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers and Presidents of the two countries. As expected, nothing new was achieved – the same tiresome statements on «readiness to continue talks according to Madrid proposals», «inadmissibility of a military solution to the conflict», «necessity to engage NKR representatives in the regulation process». All these statements sound discordant against the background of the anti-Armenian rhetoric by Baku, though everybody has already got accustomed to it. In our opinion, real burst in the regulation process will occur only when these statements are made seriously and sincerely. Let us remember that no conflict has ever been settled in the world with purely good intentions and "Cast Lead" is a vivid example of it.
And, surely enough, hit of the week, if we may put it so, was the Davos demarche of Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This kind of actions can be treated differently, but one thing is certain – leader of the country, pretending on the position of the regional power, ought not to behave like that. Moreover, Erdogan's move was obviously well-thought out and intentional. Most likely, it was a well-calculated act, a signal to the Arab-Muslim world: "Look, Turkey is with you." But, in fact, Erdogan is trying to increase the influence of his country in the region, the shortest way to which is by exerting pressure on Israel. The Israeli-Palestine conflict has been going on for dozens of years and Turkey had never before criticized Israel so harshly as during the operation in Gaza Strip. Erdogan's act can be easily interpreted by the state of domestic policy in Turkey, because, to all appearances, the struggle between Islamists and Kemalists is coming to the peak on the eve of the elections of local administration. It is clear that now more than ever the Justice and Development Party of Turkey (AKP) needs public support. Otherwise Erdogan may share the fate of Adnan Menderes, Prime-Minister of Turkey, executed by Kemalists in 1961. Turkish Joint Staff has already announced about its readiness to preserve strategic relations with Israel, especially in purchasing military equipment. It means Turkish servicemen are against the AKP, which, by the way, is not a novelty.
There exists also the Armenian factor in this matter. Only 2 months is left till April, and there is no guarantee that the new US Administration will listen to the Jewish-Turkish lobby that successfully torpedoes adoption of the resolution on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkey in 1915-1923. In this connection it was truly blasphemous to hear the Turkish Prime-Minister addressing the Israeli President with the following words: "When it comes to killing, you know well how to do it"
In all probability, the demarche story will continue, but the question is who Erdogan was on that day – a national hero or an imprudent politician. As for the statements of Jewish organizations of the US, they were quite predictable: fate of the Jews in Turkey, as well as in any other country, against the background of almost total anti-Semitism can't but worry the Jewish Diaspora all over the world.
