Interfax, Russia
Jan 20 2010
Armenian foreign minister discusses prospects of bilateral relations
with Turkish counterpart – source
YEREVAN Jan 20
Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandian on Wednesday held talks by
telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to express his
concern about a recent statement made by the Turkish foreign ministry,
a diplomatic source told Interfax.
No official reports were circulated about the details of the talks.
Nalbandian said on Wednesday that he was going to discuss the Turkish
foreign ministry’s statement on the Armenian-Turkish protocols with
his Turkish counterpart.
"I plan to get in touch with my counterpart, Mr. Davutoglu, and
express my surprise, and also to find out in which part of the
Armenian Constitutional Court ruling did Turkey see any preconditions,
and in what way this ruling goes against the basic goals of the
protocols," the Armenian foreign ministry quoted Nalbandian as saying.
"I hope that by making such a statement the Turkish side is not trying
to justify its own continuing attempts to advance preconditions and to
mask the inappropriate slowing of ratification of the protocols," he
said.
The Turkish foreign ministry on Tuesday circulated a statement,
criticizing the Armenian Constitutional Court’s ruling which qualifies
the Armenian-Turkish protocols as compliant with the Armenia
constitution. The Turkish foreign ministry also said that the ruling
has provisions listing preconditions going against the spirit and
content of the protocols. This ruling, the statement says, casts
doubts on the necessity to discuss the protocols and hampers the
attainment of the main goal set by these documents.