THE DAILY STAR: ARMENIAN PRESIDENT HAS TAKEN BOLD AND NECESSARY STEP
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.02.2010 21:07 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In a move that deserves praise and support, Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan moved forward again to normalize relations
with Turkey, The Daily Star Lebanese newspaper reported.
"Sargsyan submitted to the Armenian Parliament two protocols which
spring from the deal he signed with Turkish President Abdullah Gul
last October; the two protocols would open bilateral diplomatic
relations and open the countries’ shared border.
The Armenian President has taken a bold and necessary step. It is
time to move forward; instead of living in the past, this region
needs understanding and reconciliation.
For its part, Armenia has a well of untapped potential, whether
as a passageway for a natural-gas pipeline or in its historically
talented populace.
The Turkish-Armenian reconciliation should be acknowledged as an
example of the way forward, of a better alternative to the seething
tensions. We need more leaders willing to stick their necks out to
end tensions and conflicts.
Sargsyan’s brave move might not succeed – the deal still has to be
approved by both countries’ legislatures – but no matter how this
episode ends, the president deserves recognition for helping escape
the cell of the past and moving toward peace and reconciliation,"
the article said.
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.