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JOSHKA FISCHER'S PUTTING A WREATH TO THE MEMORIAL OF ARMENIAN'S GENOCIDE IN OTTOMAN TURKEY SPEAKS ABOUT THE UNFORMAL POSITION OF GERMANY IN THIS ISSUE
- Mr. Bartels, how do You assess the results of Your diplomatic mission to Armenia? - The years of my diplomatic mission to Armenia have been marked by the development of Armenian-German relations: President of Armenia Robert Kocharian visited Germany in 2003, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Joshka Fishcer visited Armenia in April 2004 within the framework of the regional visit, an Armenian-German economic forum is expected to be held in Germany in the nearest future. Prime Minister of Armenia and several ministers of Armenian government will take part in the forum. So I can express only satisfaction with the development level of our relations. - How do You assess the development of the relations EU-Armenia? - Here we also observe interesting progresses. The creation of the institute of EU representative for South Caucasus with the Ambassador Heikki Talvitie testifies that the fate of the TransCaucasian region is not without interest to the European Union. And from this point of view the EU tries to settle the regional conflicts, without which the normal development of the region is quite difficult. OSCE Minsk Group is working for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. In parrallel with it the Ambassador Heikki Talvitie also tries to make every effort for seeking optimal ways of development of relations EU-TransCaucasus, and the decision of the foreign ministers of EU member countries to involve the three countries of the TransCaucasus in the program "Wider Europe: New Neighbourhood Policy" was the consequence of it. - How do You concern the increase of the role of several European structures, in particular, of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in the issue of settlement of Karabakh conflict due to the OSCE Minsk Group? - As regards their essence, the OSCE Minsk Group and PACE are different structures. OSCE MG works irrespective of other structures. However the increased interest of PACE, as well as of other European structures in the fate of this conflict is clear, as without the settlement of this problem, without lifting the blockade of the borders in the region, without reduction of the risk of uncertainty of the situation the progress in the region, especially in Armenia, is impossible. It is also very important for both parties of the conflict to find way-outs of the situation. - How is the perspective of Germany's recognizing the Genocide of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey at the beggining of the 20th century? - I think it is necessary to carry out discussions concerning the establishment of these terrible facts. But the government and parliament of Germany never pass resolutions concerning the historic events in other countries. - Unlike the neighbor France… - Different traditions in different countries. For example, U.S. Congress and Senate also pass similar resolutions. And Germany has never passed such a resolution. Thus, one should not expect such a step from Germany. But in any case the fact that Foreign Minister of Germany Joshka Fischer during his regional visit put a wreath to the Memorial of vicitms of the Genocide - Tsitsernakaberd, speaks about the position of Germany. But one should not expect any formal decision from Germany. - But Germany has recognized the historical fact of the holocost, hasn't it? - It had concerned our own history - the difference is that. Regarding the histories of other countries we do not do that. Ruben Grdzelyan, ARMINFO, 22 June, 2004 |
Ambassador of Germany to Armenia and Representative of the European Union in Armenia Hans-Wulf Bartels completes his mission to Armenia in July 2004. What marked the activities of the Ambassador to Armenia during these years, how is the level of Armenian-German relations now? We appealed to the Ambassador of Germany to comment on these and some other aspects of bilateral relations.
