AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
March 12 2010

Sarkisian downbeat on Turkish-Armenian reconciliation

12-03-2010 05:32:49

President Serzh Sarkisian has suggested that Turkey will not
unconditionally normalize relations with Armenia anytime soon and
again threatened to annul the universally welcomed agreements signed
by the two nations last October.
In an interview with the French daily `Le Figaro’ published on
Thursday, Sarkisian also warned that Ankara’s reluctance to ratify
them is swelling the ranks of Armenians opposed to his conciliatory
policy on Turkey.
`Our desire to establish normal relations is great,’ he said.
`However, recent statements from Turkey make me think that they will
not ratify the protocols in the foreseeable future.
`We had warned that if we become convinced that the Turks are using
the normalization process for other purposes we will take appropriate
steps. In that case, we will withdraw our signature from the
protocols.’
According to Sarkisian, the two governments agreed to put the
protocols into practice `within a reasonable time frame and without
preconditions’ when they inked the deal in Zurich in October 2009. `We
have said that Armenia would ratify the protocols immediately after
their ratification by Turkey,’ he said. `And yet Turkey keeps putting
forward preconditions for their ratification, the most important of
them relating to Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.’
Sarkisian again avoided setting any deadlines for the Turkish ratification.
Sarkisian told `Le Figaro’ that his Turkish policy has caused `a great
deal of concern among Armenians around the world.’ `As a result of the
dragging out of the normalization process, the number of [Armenian]
supporters of the protocols is increasingly dwindling,’ he warned. *

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress