ARMENIA REPLIED TO TURKEY’S "IMITATION POLICY" THROUGH ITS STATEMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 23, 2010 – 17:17 AMT 12:17 GMT

Turkologist Ruben Melkonyan said that Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan’s statement on termination of the current stage of the
Armenian-Turkish normalization is a reply to Turkey’s "imitation
policy." Though the process is frozen, but it has not completed
finally, as Armenia has not withdrawn its signature under the
Protocols, Mr. Melkonyan told a press conference in Yerevan. He noted
that de-facto Turkey has frozen the process long ago.

The Armenian expert also stressed that Armenia has taken such Á step
right now to prevent possible speculations by Turkey and the U.S. on
April 24. "The freezing of the Armenian-Turkish process is advantageous
for Turkey to some extent, since it will gain time through it. As soon
as it solves internal problems, the country will be able to resume
the Armenian-Turkish normalization from a new side," said Melkonyan,
adding that currently Turkey is straining its political machine to
find an adequate response to Armenia’s statement.

"In my opinion, Turkey’s reply will not be tough," the Armenian expert
noted, adding that possibly Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
will try to use this statement for speculations. "But these attempts
will be baseless, as Armenia appeared to be a more reliable partner
for the world, in contrast to Turkey," said Melkonyan.

The Armenian expert also said he does not think that the latest
developments in the Armenian-Turkish normalization will have an
impact on the Karabakh conflict settlement, as they are entirely
independent processes.

On April 22, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on
termination of the procedure on ratification of the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols signed in Zurich on October 10.