Tigran Sargsyan: Turks were originally responsible for closing the border
19.12.2009 16:55 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `We very much hope the Turkish Parliament will not
take a step that would mean a miscarriage of the agreements. If this
happens, our parliament would [essentially declare] the protocols to
be null and void. We would be back to square one,’ Armenian Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan told the Turkish daily Hu"rriyet in an
interview.
Touching upon Turkish side’s statements on the impossibility of
progress without settlement of Karabakh conflict, Armenian premier
reiterated Armenia’s position on the process being free of
preconditions.
`Our position has not changed. Judging from Prime Minister [Recep
Tayyip] Erdogan’s statements, it seems that the Turkish position has
shifted, which means that the Turkish Parliament may propose certain
preconditions. If Turkey comes up with preconditions, Armenia would be
free to do so as well itself,’ Sargsyan said, emphasizing that the
Turks were originally responsible for closing the border.
`We are not playing games with Turkey; we are committed to an open and
transparent foreign policy and do not make different statements to
others. We do not see an alternative to this process,’ Armenian
premier said, adding that if Turkey comes up with preconditions,
Armenia will be free to do so as well.
.
With regard to the ratification of RA-Turkish Protocols, Head of
Armenian Government said, `We are closely following this process. If
we observe that the Turkish Parliament is not stalling the process, we
will make our own conclusions.’