Turkey rewards Switzerland by giving the role of mediation

Micheline Calmy-Rey, the foreign minister of Switzerland, was among the foreign dignitaries in Bursa to watch the game between the Turkish and Armenian national teams. We know her through her efforts as mediator between Turkey and Armenia.

Yet both Switzerland and Calmy-Rey have a record that should not be forgotten. Switzerland is among the countries that came closest to officially recognizing Armenia’s claims of genocide.

The first concrete step came in 1998 when the Geneva Cantonal Parliament adopted a decision to recognize the 1915 events as genocide. Below the decision you can see the signature of Micheline Calmy-Rey, as the president of the state council, which is the executive authority of the Geneva Canton.

Calmy-Rey then took up the post of the foreign ministry in the federal government in 2002. Her planned visit to Turkey the next year was canceled by the Turkish government when the Vaud canton adopted a decision on the genocide claims.

This cancellation has not stopped the lower house of the federal parliament to adopt the same year a resolution describing the mass killings of Armenians in the hands of the Ottomans as genocide.

Now there is in Switzerland a situation akin to the one in France. As, the upper house of the parliament has not yet endorsed the decision; the resolution hangs like a Damocles’ sword over bilateral relations.

Yet the similarity between France and Switzerland is not limited to the developments in the legislative bodies. There have been initiatives in both countries to criminalize denial of Armenian claims of genocide.

Switzerland is one step ahead of France on this matter. A Turkish citizen has been tried and found guilty by a Swiss court. Doğu Perinçek is now waiting the appeal process to be completed.

We come across again the name of Calmy-Rey in this judicial process. In its verdict about Perinçek, The Swiss court made a reference to the decision taken by the Geneva Canton, recalled that Calmy-Rey was an official at the time of the local administration and alleged that the fact that now Calmy-Rey is a minister of the federal government proves that this decision is endorsed at the federal level.

In this whole background, Switzerland and Calmy-Rey assumed the role of mediation between Armenia and Turkey on a contention mainly based on Armenian claims of genocide. Turkey and Armenian talks focused on the formation of a committee that will work to see if 1915 events amounted to genocide, and these talks are mediated by a mediator, whose position on the genocide claims is on the records, which needless to say contradicts the very nature of mediation based on neutrality.

As far as I know, Turkish and Armenian officials did not use for many years, in fact since the declaration of independence of Armenia in 1991, any mediation to hold direct talks. Although Turkey has not established diplomatic relations with Armenia despite recognizing its independence, Ankara and Yerevan used their diplomatic missions in Moscow or Tbilisi to make contact when they felt the need.

There have even been times when Armenian officials came secretly to Turkey and Turkish officials made secret visits to Yerevan. In fact the whole processes that led to the historic signing in Switzerland of the protocols that will pave the way to normalize relations has gained momentum during the secret meetings between Turkish and Armenian diplomats that usually took place in Vienna.

Switzerland’s calls to assume a mediation role on these talks have in the past been turned down in view of their “record” on the “genocide issue.”

Therefore it remains to be explained when and why Turkey felt the need to take recourse to the help of Switzerland.