TURKISH ARMENIAN PROTOCOL WELCOMED BY FRANCE AND US
Today’s Zaman
Sept 2 2009
Turkey
A protocol agreed between Turkey and Armenia on Monday under Swiss
mediation declaring that the two countries will conduct internal
political consultations to be concluded within six weeks has been
welcomed by the US and France.
The consultation period will then be followed by ratification in the
Turkish and Armenian parliaments, in a move to establish diplomatic
ties and develop bilateral relations between the two countries.
A press release issued by State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said
the US favors normalization between Turkey and Armenia without
preconditions and within a reasonable time frame. The statement
also said the US urges Turkey and Armenia to proceed expeditiously,
according to the agreed framework in which both parties have agreed
to launch their internal political consultations to achieve better
relations.
The US announced that it was ready to work closely with both
governments in support of normalization which it regarded as
a historic process that would contribute to peace, security and
stability throughout the region, and it foresees further steps for
mending ties between the two neighbors.
Furthermore, the step towards reconciliation by Armenia and Turkey
has also been praised by France. President Sarkozy welcomed the
developments, saying in a statement that the normalization of relations
between Armenia and Turkey would constitute an event of historic
importance that would contribute to regional stability in the Caucasus.
"I congratulate the officials of Armenia and Turkey and encourage
them to double their efforts to sign an agreement," said the statement.
France and the US are the co-chairs with Russia of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, which has been
mediating for one-and-a-half decades to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute.
Earlier on Monday Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan reiterated that he
will not attend the Turkey-Armenia 2010 World Cup qualifying match in
Turkey if the border between Armenia and Turkey remains closed, nearly
a month after a similar remark made in an interview with the BBC.
President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan last September to watch a
World Cup qualifying game and invited Sarksyan to Turkey to watch the
return game. For more than one-and-a-half years, Turkey and Armenia
have been holding closed-door talks to restore their relations.