ARMENIAN-TURKISH PEACE PROCESS STOPPED

United Press International UPI
April 22 2010

YEREVAN, Armenia, April 22 (UPI) — Armenia decided to halt
ratification of a key treaty aimed at normalizing relations with
Turkey.

Armenia’s ruling coalition said in a statement it halted ratification
of the landmark accord signed last October after decades of conflict
because of Turkey’s refusal to ratify without preconditions.

"Considering the Turkish side’s refusal to fulfill the requirement
to ratify the accord without preconditions in a reasonable time,
making the continuation of the ratification process in the national
parliament pointless, we consider it necessary to suspend this
process," BBC News quoted from the statement.

Armenia lashed out at Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
for linking the normalization accords to a resolution over
Nagorno-Karabakh, an area of dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia.