TURKISH SENIOR OFFICIAL: NO ADVANCES WILL BE IN ANKARA-YEREVAN RELATIONS

Trend
Feb 10 2010
Azerbaijan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Adviser on Eurasia
Geybulla Ramazanoglu believes although the Armenian President sent
the Armenian-Turkish protocol to the parliament for ratification,
there will be no advances in the Ankara-Yerevan relations unless the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved.

"No advances will be in the Ankara-Yerevan relations, without solution
to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem," he told Trend News over the telephone
today. "Sargsyan’s this step is another political maneuver."

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has today tasked its administration
to send the Armenian-Turkish protocol to the parliament for
ratification in the coming days.

The Armenian President informed about this in his speech at the
Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, the Mediamax
special correspondent reported from London.

Feb.9, Sargsyan addressed to his Turkish Counterpart Abdullah Gul,
urging Ankara to respect the reached agreements.

The official said even if the Armenian Parliament ratifies the
protocols, Ankara is hardly to take the same step.

"Sending the protocols to the parliament, the Armenian president
wants to clarify Ankara’s next steps," he said.

Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers, Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward
Nalbandian, signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocols in Zurich Oct. 10.

After his official visit to Moscow, Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said in Ankara that although some claims that the
Turkey-Armenia relations are not related to the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem, this process is directly related to the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem.

Jan.12, 2009, the Armenian Constitutional Court approved the
compliance of the Ankara-Yerevan protocols with the Armenian
Constitution. However, after the approval the court reported that
creation of a joint commission to study the 1915 events is unnecessary
and Armenian will never refuse from the demand to recognize the
genocide.

Erdogan warned that if the Armenian Constitutional Court does not
reverse its decision on the protocols, the relations between Ankara
and Yerevan may erode.