US AND RUSSIA EXERT PRESSURE ON TURKEY
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.02.2010 15:23 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Former speaker of the Armenian parliament, MP
Tigran Torosyan believes Turkey is being pressured in the process of
normalizing ties with Armenia.
"Moscow and Washington’s urging Erdogan not to link Karabakh conflict
settlement to Armenia-Turkey rapprochement is a major slap on the face
of Turkish Prime Minister. Simple logic tells that US and Russia won’t
allow Turkey to interfere in Karabakh conflict settlement process to
retain the leverage of pressure on Azerbaijan," Mr. Torosyan told a
news conference in Yerevan.
"There’s more to lose than to gain for Armenia in the opening of
border with Turkey. We’ve already made our share of concessions by
agreeing to Protocol provisions on mutual recognition of borders and
historic subcommittee formation. Moreover, we’ve made no progress in
the issue of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Almost all countries are convinced that recognition of Armenian
Genocide can harm RA-Turkey reconciliation," he concluded.
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 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994
(when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most
of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions is
now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are
holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.
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.