Agence France Presse
April 22, 2010 Thursday 1:30 PM GMT

Turkish PM sticks to condition for Armenia reconciliation

Ankara, April 22 2010

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday Turkey remained
faithful to peace with Armenia, but insisted on conditions for
reconciliation after Yerevan suspended a historic accord.

"We have expressed on several occasions our commitment to the letter
and spirit of the protocols and the target of putting them into
practice," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.

"We have also explained on several occasions… how the ratification
process can be advanced and how we can achieve the target of
comprehensive peace in the region. Our determination remains
unchanged," he added.

Erdogan’s reference to regional peace reflects Turkey’s position that
peace efforts with Armenia cannot go forward without progress in
Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan — a close Turkish ally — over the
enclave of Nagorny-Karabakh.

Turkey sealed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan after ethnic Armenian separatists, backed by Yerevan,
seized the Nagorny-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts
from Baku in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.

Armenia’s ruling coalition announced earlier Thursday that it was
halting ratification of the peace accord on account of Turkey’s
refusal to ratify the text "without preconditions and in a reasonable
timeframe."

The coalition, which holds the majority in parliament, described as
"unacceptable" recent statements by Erdogan linking the process of
ratifying the protocols to the Nagorny-Karabakh dispute.

A Turkish diplomat said earlier Thursday that Ankara was studying what
steps to take next following Yerevan’s announcement.

"We are evaluating the content of this (Armenian) statement and what
it means" legally and politically, foreign ministry spokesman Burak
Ozugergin told AFP.

"In this context, we are also discussing steps that could be taken in
the coming period," he added, without elaborating.

Turkey and Armenia signed a deal in October to establish diplomatic
ties and open their border in a step towards ending decades of
hostility over Armenian allegations that Ottoman Turks committed
genocide against Armenians — which Turkey rejects.

The deal — comprised of two protocols — needs parliamentary
ratification to come into effect, but the reconciliation process has
since stalled with both sides questioning each others’ commitment to
peace.