ARMENIA HALTS RATIFYING AGREEMENT WITH TURKEY ON IMPROVING TIES: REPORT
People’s Daily
April 22 2010
China
The Armenian ruling coalition of three parties in the parliament
announced Thursday in a statement that they would freeze the
ratification of an agreement with Turkey on improving relations,
Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
The majority of the parliament members are opposed to ratifying the
landmark accord, said the report.
Turkey and Armenia have been bogged down in a row over the 1915
incident, which Armenia says was a genocide. Turkey denies that
charge and insists the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and
governmental breakdown as the 600-year-old Ottoman Empire collapsed
before modern Turkey was born in 1923.
The two countries signed last October historic deals on normalizing
ties and reopening their borders after nearly a century of
hostilities. The agreements need to be ratified by both countries’
parliaments before taking effect.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic or economic ties since Armenia
declared its independence in 1991. Turkey closed its border with
Armenia in 1993 to support Azerbaijan, which had a territorial conflict
with Armenia over the Upper Karabakh region.