PROTRACTING PROTOCOLS RATIFICATION, TURKEY TRIES TO GET THE MAXIMUM FROM ARMENIA

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
11.02.2010 13:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Sardarapat initiative leader Zhirayr Sefilyan
supposes that by protracting ratification of Protocols, Turkey tries
to get the maximum from Armenia.

Slamming the presidential speech at Chatham House Royal Institute of
International Affairs, he said, "Serzh Sargsyan’s statements suggest
he is ready to cede the liberated territories. He hasn’t yet ventured
an open statement on the issue, since doing so would put an end to
his political career."

According to Sefilyan, conflict of superpowers’ interests, rather than
Armenia or Turkey, can become the reason behind rapprochement failure.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation.

On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in
1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from
1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, NKR and
Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions of Azerbaijan
around it (the security zone) remain under the control of NKR defense
army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the
OSCE Minsk Group up till now.