ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS TRANSFORM, EXPERT SAYS

news.am
Jan 12 2010
Armenia

The Armenian-Turkish protocols approved by the RA Constitutional
Court on January 12 have been submitted to RA President Serzh Sargsyan.

After being approved by the President, the documents are to be
submitted to the Armenian Parliament. The RA Parliament will open
its winter session on February 1, 2010, and the protocols are most
likely to be put on the agenda. Of course, the Armenian Parliament
might hold a special sitting to ratify the documents, but experts do
not consider such a scenario to be likely.

The Armenian leader earlier stated he expected the Turkish Parliament
to ratify the protocols within a reasonable timeframe. He stressed then
that the Armenian side would exercise its right under international
law if the Turkish side delayed the process.

Talking to NEWS.am, the political analyst Armen Gevorgyan said that
the Armenian-Turkish protocols have now "transformed their legal
aspect into a political one." "We have every reason to think that
the President will quickly endorse the documents and send them to
Parliament. Then Yerevan will be keeping track of the Turkish side’s
actions. As the Armenian MPs stated, the Armenian Parliament will
ratify the protocols only after the Turkish Parliament has done it. On
the other hand, under certain circumstances, Yerevan may speed up
the process and approve the document before Ankara does. In any case,
we have a chance to estimate the alignment of forces in the Armenian
Parliament. For the first time the Armenian Parliament will consider
such historic documents. It is great responsibility. The Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and the Heritage Party are trying to
cause the parliamentary forces to unite round them. Of course, this
task is doomed to failure though its success depends on how strong is
the ruling party’s position and that of President Serzh Sargsyan. The
situation is becoming really intriguing," Gevorgyan said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress