TURKEY STILL CAN UNFREEZE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS
PanARMENIAN.Net
22.03.2010 15:52 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I think Azerbaijan’s reaction is not adequate
response to the call of the Armenian President to sign an agreement on
nonuse of force," Artak Zakaryan , member of the Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA) told a news conference jointly held with expert Anush
Setrakyan in Yerevan.
According to him, Baku has once again demonstrated its unconstructive
position on the Karabakh conflict settlement issue.
According to Zakaryan, whether Turkey will ratify the Armenian-Turkish
protocols or not, Armenia will win. Zakaryan did not rule out that
Ankara will ratify the Protocols and try to unfreeze the process. "But
this does not mean that we should not expect unpredictable steps from
Turkey," Artak Zakaryan said.
However, according to him, it is wrong to specify any terms for
Protocols’ ratification because it is rather a complex process.
According to Anush Sedrakyan, Armenia has become the source of tension
in the region, while Azerbaijan and Turkey have adopted pro-Russian
position.
The threat of war has always existed and the only culprit of this is
Azerbaijan, Mr. Zakaryan said.
The armed conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke
out in 1998, 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.