ARMENIAN NA’S POLITICAL COALITION CONSIDERS IT NECESSARY TO SUSPEND THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 22, 2010
YEREVAN

The political councils of the parties making the political coalition
in the Armenian National Assembly made a joint statement. NA Public
Relations Department told Armenpress that the statement runs as
follows:

"During the recent two years, with the support of the political
majority of the RA parliament, the President of Armenia implemented
consecutive steps for the establishment and development of
Armenian-Turkish relations without preconditions. The USA, Russian
Federation, France, Switzerland made an intensive contribution to
the process. Many countries of the world positively responded to this
initiative, pointing out its exclusive importance for the establishment
of regional stability and solution of the existing issues through a
civilized dialogue.

The constructive efforts of the Armenian side and the expectations
of the international community continuatively faced the inconsequent,
preventive stances of Turkey, its policy of continuatively forwarding
preconditions which brought to the deadlock the process of ratification
of the 2009 October 10 Armenian-Turkish protocols signed in Zurich.

The political majority of the Armenian National Assembly considers
inadmissible the recent statements of the Turkish side and particularly
Prime Minister Erdogan who again directly links the ratification of
the Armenian-Turkish protocols with the settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh-Azerbaijan conflict.

At the same time, taking into consideration the denial of the Turkish
side of the commitment to ratify the protocols in the reasonable
timeframe without preconditions, the continuation of their ratification
process in the Armenian National Assembly in this stage becomes
senseless, and we consider it necessary to suspend the process and
withdraw it from the agenda of the NA until the Turkish side is ready
for the further continuation of the process without preconditions."

The statement is signed by the Armenian Republican Party, "Prosperous
Armenia" party and "Orinats Yerkir" party.