ARMENIA MAY WITHDRAW SIGNATURE FROM PROTOCOLS

Today’s Zaman
April 29 2010
Turkey

A senior Armenian diplomat has warned that the option of withdrawing
Armenia’s signature from two protocols on normalization signed with
Turkey is "definitely possible."

The remarks by Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian
concerned Armenia’s position if the normalization process between the
two countries gets irreparably bogged down, Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Tuesday. "Let us not forget that we,
too, have an option to withdraw our signatures [from the protocols],"
Kirakosian said in an interview with RFE/RL.

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan announced last week that Armenia was
freezing the process of ratifying the protocols, but he also added that
Armenia was not walking away from the agreements. Sarksyan’s decision
not to abandon the path that will eventually lead to reconciling the
two troubled neighbors was received with approval across Europe.

However, the deputy foreign minister said withdrawal of the signature
"is a possible alternative." "Depending on further developments in the
process, we may use that option," Kirakosian said, speaking to RFE/RL.

Adding that such a scenario would be possible if the process does
not move forward, the senior official said he is unable to say just
how long Yerevan is willing to wait.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress