YEREVAN TO RATIFY PROTOCOLS ONLY AFTER ANKARA RATIFIES THEM

RIA Novosti
March 3, 2010
Yerevan

The National Assembly of Armenia plans to ratify Armenian-Turkish
protocols on bilateral relations only after the Turkish Parliament
signs them, Armenian speaker Ovik Abramyan said on Wednesday.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu signed protocols on establishing diplomatic
relations and on developing bilateral relations last October. They
are yet to be approved by their parliaments.

"The Armenian-Turkish protocols should only concern issues of
establishing diplomatic relations and the opening of the borders
between the two countries. The speaker said the Armenian Parliament
will ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols after they are ratified by
the Turkish Parliament," the press service of the Armenian Parliament
said in a statement.

The Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1993 on Ankara’s
initiative. Bilateral relations are complicated over the genocide
issue as well as by Turkey’s support of Azerbaijan’s position in the
Nagorny Karabakh problem.

Azerbaijan recently renewed threats of military action to retake
disputed Nagorny Karabakh over a lack of progress in talks with
Armenia.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in the region since a brutal war
in the 1990s between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed enclave
inside Azerbaijan with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population.

Some 30,000 people died in the conflict, which erupted after the
mountainous region declared independence in 1991. Karabakh has been
under Armenian control since a Russian-brokered ceasefire in 1994.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday at a joint press
conference after talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev
that France and Russia will continue close cooperation in settling
the Karabakh conflict.