TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULING

armradio.am
19.01.2010 15:58

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement on the
decision of the Constitutional Court of Armenia on the Armenian-Turkish
protocols.

"The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia has declared
its decision of constitutional conformity on the Protocols between
Turkey and Armenia signed on 10 October 2009 with a short statement
on 12 January 2010. The Constitutional Court has recently published
its grounds of decision. It has been observed that this decision
contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the
letter and spirit of the Protocols.

The said decision undermines the very reason for negotiating these
Protocols as well as their fundamental objective. This approach cannot
be accepted on our part.

Turkey, in line with its accustomed allegiance to its international
commitments, maintains its adherence to the primary provisions of
these Protocols.

We expect the same allegiance from the Armenian Government," the
Turkish Ministry said in a statement.

The Armenian court’s Jan. 12 decision established that the protocols
with Turkey conformed to the constitution.

But the decision also stipulated that the agreement must not contradict
Paragraph 11 of the Declaration of Independence, which states,
"The Republic of Armenia stands in support of the task of achieving
international recognition of the 1915 Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and
Western Armenia."