U.S. BACKS ARMENIA IN SUSPENDING, NOT ENDING TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT
RIA Novosti
April 23, 2010
YEREVAN
The United States urges Armenia and Turkey to continue efforts at
reconciliation and supports Yerevan’s decision to put the process on
hold, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia said on Friday.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on Thursday
that put the ratification of Armenian-Turkish protocols on hold,
declaring that his country would wait until Ankara showed it was
ready to normalize relations.
"President Sargsyan’s announcement makes clear that Armenia has not
ended the process but has suspended it until the Turkish side is ready
to move forward. We applaud President Sargsyan’s decision to continue
to work towards a vision of peace, stability, and reconciliation,"
Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon
was quoted as saying on the embassy website.
"We believe that the normalization process carries important benefits
for Turkey and Armenia as well as the wider Caucasus region. We
continue to urge both sides to keep the door open to pursuing efforts
at reconciliation and normalization," Gordon added.
Sargsyan said on Thursday that he had discussed the move with the
French, U.S. and Russian presidents, as well as with other partners.
"I won’t hide that our partners called on me to continue the process,
not to quit it," he said.
He stressed that Armenia still wanted to establish full diplomatic
relations with Turkey, and would return to the issue when there was an
"appropriate atmosphere" and corresponding readiness in Ankara.
Long strained relations between Armenia and Turkey took a major
step forward on October 10, 2009, when Armenian Foreign Minister
Eduard Nalbandyan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Devutoglu signed
protocols on establishing diplomatic relations and developing bilateral
relations.
The documents, signed in Switzerland, have to be ratified by both
countries to come into force.
The Armenian-Turkish border was closed in 1993 on Ankara’s initiative.
Bilateral relations between the countries are complicated by Turkey’s
support of Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over Nagorny
Karabakh and differing positions on the genocide of Armenians by the
Ottoman Empire during World War I, which Ankara consistently denies.