HOVHANNESIAN: NEW ARENA FOR STRUGGLE HAS BEEN OPENED

Armenian Weekly
January 18, 2010

YEREVAN-Even though the Constitutional Court ruled that the
Armenian-Turkish protocols are in line with the Armenian Constitution,
the ruling contains several positive elements, said Vahan Hovhannesian,
a member of the ARF Bureau and the leader of the ARF faction in
parliament, during a news conference on Jan. 14.

The Constitutional Court ruling says that the subject of the protocols
is the establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey and
that all the other issues derive from that subject, so they should be
based on additional agreements, Hovhannesian said, according to Yerkir.

He added that concerns regarding the Artsakh issue and the
Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement are now off the agenda as the Court
ruling underlines that the protocols have nothing to do with third
countries.

As for the recognition of the borders, Hovhannesian said he was
not satisfied with the Court’s formulation that "the borders are
not recognized through protocols because, under the Armenian law,
borders are defined by international treaties."

"So the issue of the border remains open," Hovhannesian said.