David Phillips: Turkey should not have signed the protocols based on wishful thinking

David Phillips: Turkey should not have signed the protocols based on wishful thinking
May 11, 2010 - 21:08 AMT 16:08 GMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey acted with political naivety during the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process since its actions were based on wishful thinking, an American expert on conflict prevention and peace building said over the weekend.
"Turkey acted on two assumptions. First, Turkey thought the reconciliation process would galvanize the Minsk Group to find a solution to Nagorno-Karabakh," said David Phillips, director of the program on Conflict Prevention and Peace-building at American University.
Turkey also acted on the assumption that efforts to gain international recognition of Armenian Genocide will end, said Phillips, adding that both assumptions of Turkey were wishful thinking. "There was no linkage between the protocols and the Nagorno-Karabakh problem," said the former adviser to the U.S. State Department, adding that Turkey should not have signed the protocols based on wishful thinking.
Turkey was not serious about ratifying the protocols and therefore made no significant effort to see them ratified, Phillips told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
Armenia could not wait forever and hence suspended the ratification process, according to Phillips, who is pessimistic about the near future. "I don't see what Turkey gains if it ratifies the protocols. They will loose support if they do it before the elections," said Phillips