Trend, Azerbaijan
April 23 2010

U.S. not surprised by Armenia’s decision to suspend normalization with Turkey

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 23 / Trend R.Darkhshan /

The U.S. is not surprised by Armenia’s decision to suspend
ratification of the Turkish-Armenian protocols on normalization of
relations, U.S. State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley said at
press briefing.

"President Serzh 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," Crowley said.

He said the U.S. conducted intensive meetings with the representatives
of Armenia and Turkey in Washigton.

"We have had ongoing contacts with Azerbaijan as well. We understand
that there’s – we had – that both sides had reached a – I won’t say
impasse, but kind of reached a hurdle in the process regarding the
ratification of the protocols," Crowley said.