Armenian Turkish Roadmap Details Emerging

First, we learn that the Turkish Armenian roadmap has timetable. Second, is the very reasonable interview of the Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan to Wall Street Journal, in which he says that the ball can't be forever in Turkish side if Turkey does not move.

In this Reuters story, which gives the first glimpse of what the Turkish Armenian roadmap is we learn that it's not signed yet and has been only agreed in principle on diplomatic ties, opening the border, and establishing commissions to tackle historical disputes. Reuter's says we are talking about weeks and not years to see a change. "A roadmap agreed between Turkey and Armenia commits the neighbours to establishing diplomatic relations and opening their border gradually over "weeks or months", a senior Western diplomat said on Thursday."

On the other hand the president of Armenian Mr. Serzh Sargsyan in a very revealing interview to WSL says that the Nagorno Karabakh and Armenian Genocide related preconditions that the PM of Turkey Mr. Erdogan has recently set under Azerbaijan's pressure "was not in the framework of our agreements." Sargsyan says that he does not see any point of continuing the football diplomacy if Turkey is not willing to play by keeping the ball always in it's side. "Of course, if the border is open or is on the eve of opening, I will visit Turkey to attend the return match. Now I want to stress that the ball is on the Turkish side and since the media labeled this development as football diplomacy…like in any football game, this diplomacy has a time frame attached to it. Which means that the ball cannot be in the Turkish side all the time."

Sargsyan says the people of Nagorno Karabakh has the right to self-determination as any other nation in the world. Responding to the Azerbaijan's claims of occupation of part of it's terriroty by the Army of Nagorno Karabakh Sargsyan says the following. "When Azeris speak about the occupation of some of their territories, they somewhat change or trick around the reality. They forget that those are the territories from which on a daily basis thousands of shells were fired at the people of Nagorno Karabakh. They forget that it was their side that by use of force imposed a war on the people of Nagorno Karabakh and posed a serious threat and challenge to the existence of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, which brought us to the outcome we are at today in the form of the self-defense of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. The fact that 15 years have elapsed since then doesn't change the cause and consequence of this reality."

US President Barack Obama is expected to issue a traditional statement on April 24, which marks the beginning of a systematic genocide campaign against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the years of World War I. Turkey to this day denies the genocide charges. US presidents have traditionally avoided using the word genocide in their April 24 statements. However, tomorrow is the first and real test for president Obama's campaign promises. He had promises to call the events Genocide and in Turkey recently he said his views are not changed and are on the record.

The world is watching if Mr. Obama will live up to his promise and call the tragic events of 1915 as the Armenian Genocide. The souls of the victims are waiting too, waiting for justice to triumph. If president Obama calls events as genocide it will be the last nail in the coffin of the Armenian genocide denial in the United States: a major step that will bring justice, help to liberate Turkey from its past and ensure the world does not see another Darfur or Rwanda.