VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYE #1089 2430852
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 310852Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6230
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1304

UNCLAS YEREVAN 001089 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL AM TU
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT, FOREIGN MINISTER, AND OPPOSITION LEADER 
CONGRATULATE GUL ON TURKISH PRESIDENCY 
 
 
¶1.  (U) President Robert Kocharian took time out from his 
Greek vacation to send a congratulatory message to new 
Turkish President Abdullah Gul.  As Kocharian is abroad on a 
private trip, details of the message were unavailable in 
Yerevan.  Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian sent his own 
letter of congratulations to President Gul. which was 
released to the public. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Meanwhile, opposition Heritage Party leader and 
possible presidential candidate Raffi Hovannisian sent a 
longer letter, in which he attempted to foreshadow 
rapprochement with Turkey, while at the same time laying down 
oblique markers about "genocide" recognition.  COMMENT:  The 
somewhat tortured wording serves Hovanissian's political 
strategy, which dangles the promise that a "legitimately 
elected" Armenian leader would have sufficient stature  to 
achieve normal relations with Turkey while also upholding 
Armenians' claims for historical acknowledgement.  END 
COMMENT)  Both Oskanian's and Hovannisian's letters were 
transmitted in English. 
 
¶3.  FULL TEXT OF FM OSKANIAN LETTER: 
 
Dear Mr. President, 
 
Please accept my sincere congratulations on your election to 
the high office of President of the Republic of Turkey. 
 
I appreciated our encounters as colleagues and wish you good 
health and boundless energy.  There is much work to be done 
in this region, and I am sure you will bring your 
contribution to global peace and prosperity. 
 
Sincerely, 
/s/ 
Vartan Oskanian 
 
 
¶4.  FULL TEXT OF HOVANNISIAN LETTER: 
 
Dear Mr. President, 
 
Please accept my congratulations on your election to this 
most responsible position at an equally critical crossroads 
for our nations and their neighborhood. 
 
It is to be hoped that, during your tenure and that of the 
next Armenian president to be elected in several months time, 
Turkish-Armenian relations will enter a wholly new phase of 
reflection, exploration, discovery, and ultimate 
normalization.  The can be done not only by virtue of high 
statesmanship and creative diplomacy, but on the basis of 
sincere mutual contemplation of the future anchored in a 
brave and unprecedented assumption of history. 
 
Turkey, Armenia, and the nature of their relationship are 
pivotal to the potential of real security and cooperation in 
the broader region.  The deep divides between our countries, 
be they of contemporary character or part of the legacy of 
the Great Armenian Dispossession, must be overcome and 
resolved in truth, with integrity, and through the 
partnership of the two new leaders and their fellow citizens 
of good faith and conscience. 
 
May God grant you the vision, commitment, and health to 
achieve that day. 
 
Very truly yours, 
/s/ 
Raffi K. Hovannisian 
 
 
 
PERINA