APNM BOARD REP.: US DEPARTMENT OF STATE HAS ALREADY LINKED ARMENIAN-TURKISH RECONCILIATION AND KARABAKH CONFLICT

ArmInfo
2009-09-18 16:09:00

ArmInfo. Turkey has repeatedly set Karabakh conflict’s resolution as
precondition to opening the border with Armenia. Given the different
"weight categories" of Armenia and Turkey, the force exerting pressure
on Armenia and Turkey in opening of the border will have to takes
this precondition into account, Hovhanness Igityan, a member of the
Armenian Pan National Movement Board, ex-head of the Parliamentary
Commission for Foreign Affairs, told ArmInfo.

"The demands made by the first persons of Turkey regarding the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict in favor of Azerbaijan are
made differently which testifies that these demands have already
been satisfied. In addition, the same office of the Department of
Sate is engaged in the problems of the Karabakh conflict settlement
and normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations and everything
is interrelated from the viewpoint of time, which means that the
Department of State has already linked these two issues," Igityan said.

In addition, he said, Turkey constantly expresses satisfaction with
interrelation of the Karabakh and the Armenian-Turkish processes. Prime
Minister Erdogan, for his part, openly states that the Armenian-Turkish
border will open simultaneously with settlement of the Karabakh
conflict, while the Armenian leadership keeps silence indirectly
confirming the aforementioned.

The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey have agreed to
start their internal political consultations on the two protocols –
the "Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations" and the
"Protocol on the development of bilateral relations" – which have
been initiated in the course of their efforts under Swiss mediation.

The two Protocols provide for a framework for the normalization of
their bilateral relations within a reasonable timeframe. The political
consultations will be completed within six weeks, following which
the two Protocols will be signed and submitted to the respective
Parliaments for the ratification on each side.