Constitutional court ruling on protocols is a signal to Ankara that
Yerevan ready to continue reconciliation process

YEREVAN, January 15. /ARKA/. A senior member of the governing
Republican Party of Armenia said today the ruling of Armenian
Constitutional Court that two Turkish-Armenian protocols on
establishment of diplomatic relations and normalization of bilateral
ties do not run counter to the Constitution, is a signal to Ankara
that Yerevan is ready to continue the reconciliation process.

Speaking at a news conference Friday, Eduard Sharmazanov, the
secretary of the party’s parliamentary faction, said the
Constitutional Court’s ruling is very important in terms of raising
the country’s international image showing its readiness to observe its
international commitments.

`Now the ball is again on the Turkish side of the field, which has to
demonstrate whether it really wants normalization of relations with
its neighbor or what it done and said was only an imitation,’ he said.

Sharmazanov said Turkey is facing the problem of preserving its
international reputation and by ratifying the two protocols it will
show that it is a reliable partner. He blamed Ankara for what he
described as `artificial dragging of the protocols ratification.’

According to him, some members of the British House of Commons, who
have personally recognized the Armenian genocide, are pressing the
government to follow their suit. He said the US Congress is very
likely to consider an Armenian genocide bill again.

Eduard Sharmazanov said Armenia will never agree to one-sided
concessions in this issue. In a reference to state borders, he said
Armenia and Turkey, as members of UN and other international
organizations, have recognized one another’s borders.

On June 12 the Constitutional Court indicated that the protocols can
not have any bearing on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or inhibit
Armenia’s pursuit of greater international recognition of the Armenian
genocide. -0-