EUROPEAN EXPERT: EVEN IF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS, ONE CAN HARDLY EXPECT EQUIVALENT RESPONSE FROM TURKISH PARLIAMENT
Trend
Feb 10 2010
Azerbaijan
Even if the Armenian parliament ratifies the Armenian-Turkish
protocols, we can hardly expect an equivalent response from the
Turkish parliament, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins
University Director Svante Cornell said.
"Even if the Armenian parliament ratified the Armenian-Turkish
protocols, we can hardly expect an equivalent response from the Turkish
Parliament, as the ratification of the protocol by Turkey is directly
linked to advances in resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,"
he told Trend News over the telephone.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has today tasked its administration
to send the Armenian-Turkish protocol to the parliament for
ratification in the coming days.
The Armenian President informed about this in his speech at the
Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, the Mediamax
special correspondent reported from London.
According to Cornell, one must take into account the fact that if
the Armenian parliament ratified the protocols, it will be another
step to increase pressure on Turkey, which seeks Yerevan.
"Pressure on Turkey will grow, but despite this, Ankara is unlikely to
continue the process of normalization of the Turkey-Armenia relations
without solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.