ANKARA DOES NOT REJECT ITS SIGNATURE UNDER PROTOCOLS

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.04.2010 16:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Official representative of the Turkish government,
State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said Turkey does
not reject its signature put under the Protocols on normalization of
the Armenian-Turkish relations. "If the process is sabotaged, Ankara
will not be guilty for it. The entire world shall understand that there
will be no Turkey’s guilt in it. The Armenian Constitutional Court’s
decision has become one of basic factors decelerating the process,"
CNN Turk quoted him as saying.

The Protocols on normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations
were signed on October 10, 2009, in Zurich by RA Minister of Foreign
Affairs Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu
in presence of Foreign Affairs Ministers of France, US, Russia and
Switzerland, which has been a mediator in the Armenian-Turkish
negotiations since 2007. According to the documents, diplomatic
relations shall be established between the two countries, and the
Turkish-Armenian border closed in 1993 shall be opened. On January
12, 2010, Armenia’s Constitutional Court (CC) declared the Protocols
conforming to the RA Constitution. There are not any preconditions
in the CC conclusion, since it contradicts to the established rule
of verdict returning. The CC verdict reads: the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols on normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations are in
compliance with the RA Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

The Turkish Foreign Affairs Ministry officially commented on the
RA Constitutional Court’s decision with respect to the Protocols on
normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations. "On January 12, 2010,
the RA Constitutional court declared its decision of constitutional
conformity on the protocols signed on October 10, 2009, in Zurich. It
was published with a short statement. The decision undermines the very
reason for negotiating these Protocols as well as their fundamental
objective. This approach cannot be accepted on our part," the Turkish
Foreign Affairs Ministry’s statement reads.