RATIFICATION IN TURKEY WAS SUSPENDED FAR LONG AGO: CNNTURK

Tert.am
22.04.10

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it was up to Armenia
to decide what to do with the ratification of the Armenia-Turkey
Protocols.

It follows a statement by the Armenian parliamentary ruling coalition
which proposed suspending the ratification process without withdrawing
the signatures.

"The competent body [for the ratification of the Protocols] is the
parliament. It is up to them to decide what to do with the process,"
Erdogan was quoted by CNNTurk as saying.

It also said that the coalition move is considered in Turkey as a
step taken ahead of April 24 when the US President Barack Obama will
deliver his commemoration address.

According to CNNTurk Turkish Foreign Ministry high-ranking officials
are drawing attention to the fact that Yerevan does not withdraw its
signatures from the Armenia-Turkey Protocols but rather suspends the
ratification process in the parliament.

Further the source recalls that the ratification process in Turkey
had been suspended in fact after the ruling by the Constitutional
Court of Armenia over the constitutionality those documents. CNNTurk
points to the lack of progress in the Karabakh conflict settlement
as another reason for the suspension of the process in Turkey.

On the one hand, according to CNNTurk, Turkish officials are waiting
for Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement over his decision,
and are trying to assess the situation on the other.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress