ARMENIAN COURT TO LOOK INTO TURKISH ACCORD – OFFICIAL
Kavkaz-uzel.ru
Oct 20 2009
Russia
Prior to ratification by Armenian parliament the Armenian-Turkish
protocols will be considered by the Constitutional Court for their
compliance with the country’s main law, the press secretary of the
Armenian president, Samvel Farmanyan, has told journalists.
He said that according to domestic procedure of ratification of the
signed documents, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs carries out an
inter-agency consideration procedure, then the documents are sent to
the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia for consideration
of compliance of obligations envisaged in them (documents) with the
country’s Constitution.
If the Court takes positive decision on compliance of the obligations
contained in the protocols with Armenia’s Constitution, the protocols
must be sent to the president, who, as per procedure, will send those
to parliament for ratification. The documents ratified by parliament
come into force after the president of the country signs a ratification
instrument, prepared in the ministry of foreign affairs.
Commenting on the question about compliance of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols with the country’s Constitution, one of the authors of
Armenia’s main law, lawyer Hrayr Tovmasyan, said that the protocols
comply with the Constitution. He added at the same time that the
issue is to determine to what extent these protocols comply with the
preamble of the main law.
"The matter is that up to the present the Constitutional Court have
not discussed issues on legal power and meaning of the preamble.
Discussing the issue on compliance-non-compliance of the protocols
with the main law, the Constitutional Court, presumably, will make
the legal meaning of the preamble more precise," Tovmasyan said.
He expressed confidence that the Armenian-Turkish protocols signed
on 10 October in Zurich will not become obstacle for Armenia in the
cause of support to the process of international recognition of the
genocide. "If the protocols said that Armenia refrains from steps
aimed at international recognition of the genocide, then in that case
the document would contradict the constitution," Tovmasyan said.
[Passage omitted; background on the protocols.]
The protocols must be ratified within 60 days after their signature.
According to Turkish mass, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek
has said that Turkish parliament will consider the Armenian-Turkish
protocols on 21 October.
Meanwhile, an Armenian deputy foreign minister, Shavarsh Kocharyan,
did not give a specific date for including the issue of ratification
of the protocols in the agenda of parliament. "The Armenian-Turkish
protocols signed by the [Armenian and Turkish] foreign ministers
should be ratified within reasonable deadlines," Kocharyan said.
"Setting ratification deadlines – this is the case when it is
impossible to do this, as the parliaments are sovereign. However there
is a notion of reasonable deadlines. It is not accidental that all the
countries which have made statements on this occasion said that it is
necessary to accomplish the process quickly and to put the protocols
into practice. The entire international community expects reasonable
deadlines. If inappropriate delaying occurs, we have our own response,
about which our president has said directly," Kocharyan said.
[Passage omitted from translation: background on the content of
the protocols.]