Turkish Authorities Strive To Lead Armenian-Turkish Process To Deadl

TURKISH AUTHORITIES STRIVE TO LEAD ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS TO DEADLOCK

ArmInfo
2010-01-29 15:16:00

ArmInfo. Turkish authorities strive to lead Armenian-Turkish process to
deadlock, specifically, the process of ratification of the Protocols by
the Turkish Parliament, Ruben Menkonyan, local turcologist, told media.

"Turkish elite is currently taking measures in this area. At the
same time Turkey tries to complete this process." For instance, he
mentioned the meeting of Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers,
Edward Nalbandian and Ahmet Davutoglu in London. The turcologist
said that initiating "soccer diplomacy" Armenia has not achieved any
tangible breakthroughs in the process with Turkey. The process is
just imitation of certain actions in the spirit of Turkish policy.

The term "soccer diplomacy" originated after Turkish president A. Gul
visited Yerevan at the invitation of Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan
to watch Armenia vs. Turkey match on Sept 6 2008. For his part the
Armenian President accepted the proposal of his Turkish counterpart
to watch a return match on October 14 2009. The two countries lack
diplomatic relations and their border has been blocked since 1993.