US: RATIFICATION OF ARMENIA-TURKEY PROTOCOLS A DIFFICULT PROCESS

Today’s Zaman
April 19 2010
Turkey

The US administration has expressed awareness of the fact that
parliamentary ratification of deals envisioning normalization of
relations between Armenia and Turkey, which is required for the
implementation of the deals, is a "difficult process" that involves
"emotion" and "risk" on both sides.

The issue concerning the efforts made by Armenia and Turkey for
normalizing their bilateral ties, which have been stalled for a
number of reasons, was on the agenda of three separate bilateral talks
between Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton last week in Washington.

During a daily press briefing on Friday, the day after Clinton and
Davutoglu’s third meeting, State Department spokesperson Philip J.

Crowley was reminded of Azerbaijan’s objections regarding the
rapprochement process and was asked, "Does the American side work
with their Azerbaijani counterparts to somehow resolve these issues?"

"There are things that both countries have committed to do. There
are difficult processes working with their respective parliaments. We
have the same experience in this country where the executive branch
can make a commitment that has to work with Congress in terms of
implementing that or getting ratification of that. We know this is a
difficult process. We know it involves emotion on both sides, risk on
both sides, and we will continue to work constructively with Armenia
and Turkey to try to see this process through," Crowley responded,
without elaborating on whether the US administration has been exerting
effort to deal with Baku’s recalcitrance on the issue.

A previous question at the briefing invited Crowley to disclose
details of Clinton and Davutoglu’s Thursday meeting in regards to
Armenia-Turkey relations.

"We obviously had very meaningful discussions this week, both with
the Turkish side, with the Armenian side, and we continue to try to
find the right formula working with both countries. And clearly,
we’re also supporting the Minsk process regarding Azerbaijan and
Nagorno-Karabakh. We are — the process has stalled from last fall
when the countries signed the protocols on normalization. We want to
see Turkey and Armenia ratify those protocols, normalize relations,
open borders. That has significant benefits for both countries. And we
continue to work with both to see if we can find the right formula,
the right timing to see ratification and the benefits that come with
ratification," Crowley said.