ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS ‘ON HOLD’, EXPERT SAYS
Tert.am
24.08.11
The removal of the Armenian-Turkish protocols from the agenda of the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey proved to be a legal fact, Ruben
Melkonyan, Deputy Dean, Department of Oriental Studies, Yerevan State
University, told a press conference Aug. 24.
However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s signature to
the document has not been invalidated, he added. “So we can consider
them to be ‘on hold’. The protocols continue to exist, but have now
dropped out of Turkish Legislature’s sight. They may come into sight
at any moment,” Melkonyan said.
According to him, the Kurdish problem and developments in the
Middle East have relegated the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation to
the background. So no changes should be expected in the bilateral
relations in the near future, the expert said. Turkey’s “small
brother”, Azerbaijan, may be inspired by the current situation as
well. But this “inspiration” will not persist, Melkonyan said.
In the context of enhancement of Turkey’s role, the expert does not
attach high importance to mediators’ pressure.
“The past two years have shown Turkey has been able to resist the
mediators’ transparently obvious pressure,” the expert said.
As regards the impact the suspension of the Armenian-Turkish protocols
might have on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Mekonyan said that
the two are separate processes. “The protocols can by no means have
any impact on the Nagorno-Karabakh process,” he concluded.