US, RUSSIA APPLY STICK AND CARROT POLICY TO ANKARA

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.03.2010 14:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There is a slim possibility of ratification of the
Protocols on normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations by the Turkish
parliament till late April, according to Alexander Iskandaryan,
director of Caucasus Institute.

"Turkey is under pressure but the matter is whether the exerted
leverage is strong enough to make it ratify the documents. Opposition
to the protocols inside Turkey is stronger than pressure from outside,"
he told a news conference in Yerevan.

At that, Mr. Iskandaryan did not rule out that Armenia can withdraw its
signature in case Ankara doesn’t ratify the Protocols till late April.

As to position of superpowers, he said the US, EU and Russia are
surprisingly concordant on the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement. "The
superpowers apply stick and carrot policy to Ankara," he said.

Dwelling on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Mr. Iskandaryan said there
is no chance for its soonest resolution.

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.