‘NOT APRIL 24, BUT PROTOCOLS ON THE AGENDA THIS YEAR’: TURKISH DIPLOMATS

Tert.am
14:34 ~U 28.01.10

This year, Turkey has no reason to be uncomfortable on the matter of
the possible approval of an Armenian Genocide resolution in the U.S.

Congress, said unnamed high-ranking officials in Turkey’s foreign
policy department in an interview with Turkish station NTV.

"It’s not April 24, but rather, the future of the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols that are on the agenda this year," said the Turk diplomats.

NTV News Director Mete Cubukcu, commenting on the latest developments
in the process of normalizing Armenia-Turkey relations, notes that
Turkey, in the current situation, doesn’t wish to be on the neglected
side of the negotiating table.

"Good, but what is Turkey doing in the current situation? To show
that it doesn’t want the process to fail, it demands a guarantee from
the U.S. and Switzerland, and that, in written form," said Cubukcu,
emphasizing that Turkey, by demanding written guarantees, delays the
process with the aim of making the U.S. and Switzerland accountable.

Referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process,
Cubukcu notes that the negotiating process must be vitalized.

"It’s important, that acceleration take place in the negotiating
movement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijanis state
that the borders can open if the Armenians withdraw from the five
territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh. While the Armenians
are in favour of a complete resolution to the issue. It’s also
well-known that Turkey will not take a single step in the issue of
ratifying the Protocols, since progress hasn’t been registered in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," said the NTV news director, concluding
that a crisis is about to erupt in the Caucasus.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress