ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO RATIFY NORMALIZATION PROCESS WITH TURKEY
RTT News
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April 22 2010
Efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia received a
setback Thursday, as Armenia’s ruling coalition said it was halting
in Parliament ratification process of the historic deal of 2009 to
re-establish diplomatic ties.
A statement by the Armenian ruling coalition said continuing the
ratification process in Parliament was ‘pointless’ in view of Turkey’s
refusal to "ratify the protocols without preconditions in a reasonable
time," mainly over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
It added that "The political majority in the national assembly
considers statements from the Turkish side in recent days as
unacceptable."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded that the
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave conflict be resolved through international
meditations and has kept the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the
enclave as a condition for ratifying the agreement.
Turkey and Armenia have not had any diplomatic or economic relations
after Armenia declared its independence in 1991. In addition, Turkey
also closed its borders with Armenia in 1993 as a token of support
for Azerbaijan, which had a territorial conflict with Armenia.
In October last year, both the countries signed a historic accord
normalizing relations between them after a century of hostility over
the World War I mass killings of Armenians.
Armenians contend that up to 1.5 million of their people were
systematically killed by the Ottoman Turks during World War I.
More than 20 countries, including the United States and Sweden,
have recognized the killings as ‘genocide.’
The government of Turkey, a key American ally and fellow NATO member,
has long denied the genocide claim, saying the number of Armenians
killed is much lower and that they were victims in the chaotic collapse
of the Ottoman empire, prior to the birth of modern Turkey in 1923.
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan had insisted that his country’s
parliament would approve the deal only after Turkey ratified
the agreement. He also warned that Armenia could break off its
normalization efforts if Turkey delayed the ratification of the
protocols.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
