ARMENIAN-TURKISH SIGNED PROTOCOLS SHOULD BE RATIFIED IN REASONABLE TERMS – MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

ARKA
Oct 13, 2009

YEREVAN, October 13. /ARKA/. Armenian-Turkish signed protocols should
be ratified by the parliaments in reasonable terms, said Shavarsh
Kocharyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia to the
journalists. "The protocols do not envisage terms for ratification
of the parliaments.

It is dictated by logics", said Kocharyan. Armenia and Turkey
signed protocols on normalization of mutual relations on Saturday
in Zurich. Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia,
Hilary Clinton and Bernard Kushner, as well as representative of EU
on general politics and security Xavier Solan were present during
the signing of protocols. After signing the documents they should be
approved by the parliaments of both countries.

Kocharyan said that all the countries who had speeches said, that
ratification should be implemented in a short period of time.

"President of Armenia said if there will be unnecessary delay, we have
an answer for it", he said. Before signing the protocols President of
Armenia Serj Sargsyan said that if Turkey will delay ratification of
protocols, Armenia will act in the same way. Complicated relations
between two countries were due to the fact that Ankara supported
Azerbaijan in Karabakh problem and also an acute reaction of Turkey
on the process of international recognition of Armenian Genocide of
1915 in Ottoman Empire.

First steps in normalization of relations of both countries was made
on September 6, 2008 when President of Turkey Abdullah Gyul arrived
to Yerevan for the first time by the invitation of the President of
Armenia Serj Sargsyan for joint watching of football game between
Armenia and Turkey for the world championship of 2010.

After the football game President Gyul invited his Armenian colleague
to be present in response game of two countries on October 14, 2009
in Turkey.