news.am, Armenia
April 17 2010

Likelihood of Protocols’ ratification decreases day by day: Zaman

14:31 / 04/17/2010`The likelihood that the protocols signed by Turkey
and Armenia in October will go into effect decreases by the day. As
the sides deviate from the point of agreement, they become influenced
by routine politics,’ Abdulhamit Bilici states in his article
published in Turkish Zaman daily.

`Yet with gangrenous problems like this, thinking outside the box and
trying new methods is a must in order to find a solution. If there was
any likelihood of progress, Obama would probably have wanted to meet
with the two leaders together since it would have been considered a
significantly important diplomatic success. Of course it is better
than nothing that Erdogan and Sargsyan both agreed during their
meeting that the protocols were not dead and indicated that their
respective foreign ministers would work together to continue the
process. Perhaps this development will allow us to avoid any problems
on April 24 this year. But if the Erdogan-Obama meeting concludes in
the same way, then the announcements the Turkish and Armenian leaders
made after their private talks do not point to any promising
developments in the near future,’ the author says.

`In this context, the stance of Turkey, which has a population of 72
million, an economy worth almost $1 trillion and a high profile in
international relations, can be understandable to a certain extent.
But is it not surreal for Armenia to expect results without giving up
on occupying Azerbaijan and leading a campaign against Turkey to
recognize the genocide despite the major problems it is facing?,’ the
source reads.

`Could the source of this surrealism in Yerevan be the lack of
international forces, which keep pressuring Ankara to open its border,
to speak out against the Armenian occupation?’ the author concludes.