ERDOGAN THREATENS TO FREEZE RECONCILIATION WITH ARMENIA
news.am
Jan 20 2010
Armenia
If RA Constitutional Court does not change its decision on the
Protocols, the Armenia-Turkey reconciliation might be blocked,
Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in the course of his visit
to Saudi Arabia.
"RA CC acted secretly and naturally Turkey cannot accept secretly
presented approaches. We introduced the signed Protocols to the
parliament immediately without any changes. Not a single word was
changed in the documents from our side, which shows our sincerity,
unlike Armenia," Erdogan said. "Unless this mistake is corrected,
the process will be protracted. Armenia-Azerbaijani relations will be
affected as well," he underlined, adding that he stated this before the
signing too. According to him, this position was also voiced during his
meetings with Russian and U.S. presidents, "Relations with Armenia will
be normalized, however the latter should put an end to occupation."
January 19, Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing
the decision of RA Constitutional Court on Armenia-Turkey Protocols.
‘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," the statement reads.
Yesterday Nalbandian stated that he intends to contact his counterpart
Mr. Davutoglu, "to clarify where in the decision of the Constitutional
Court of Armenia the Turkish side sees preconditions and how they
contradict the very reason of the Protocols." "I hope that by such
statement the Turkish side is not attempting to justify its continuous
efforts in laying down preconditions and cover up its needless delays
in the ratification process," he outlined.