The ruling coalition of Armenia made a statement regarding
Armenian-Turkish relations on Thursday. It says that Yerevan is
halting ratification of the agreements with Turkey for an indefinite
period.
The Armenian side wants Turkey to ratify the protocols signed in
Zurich in October 2009 without any preconditions. Yerevan says the
Armenian-Turkish rapprochement should not depend on the settlement of
the Karabakh conflict. Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan will address
the nation concerning this subject on Thursday, reports Gazeta.ru
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, backed by the majority in the National Assembly, has been taking steps to improve and develop Armenian-Turkish relations for the past two years, News Armenia reports, citing a statement by the authorities.
The USA, Russia, France, Switzerland have made their own contribution to this process. Many countries support the initiative, noting that regional stability and the solution of problems via a civilized dialogue has special importance.
“Constructive steps by the Armenian side and the expectations of the international community have faced inconsistency, maneuvers, and constant preconditions from the Turkish side, which has led the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols, signed October 10 in Zurich, to a deadlock,” said the declaration.
The declaration also notes, that political majority of Armenia’s National Assembly considers the latest Turkish statements unacceptable, in particular, those of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has linked the Armenian-Turkish protocols to a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“At the same time, the Turkish refusal to ratify the protocols in a reasonable time-limit and without pre-conditions makes a continuation of ratification in Armenia’s National Assembly pointless. Parliament’s political majority finds it necessary to halt the process… until the Turkish side is ready for further process without pre-conditions,” a majority coalition statement said.
According to Armenia’s National Assembly Speaker Ovik Abramyan, parliament will consider the ratification of Armenian-Turkish protocols in the near future, but only after they are ratified by the Turkish parliament.
