Sergey Minasyan: U.S. will increase pressure on Turkey so that it will ratify Protocols

PanARMENIAN.Net -
The U.S play the most active role in the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation, but Russia is also playing a positive role in this dialogue not hampering the process itself, Sergey Minasyan political scientist, deputy director of Caucasus Institute told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.



In his opinion, the visit of James Steinberg in Yerevan is important. Visit of Steinberg showed that the Armenian-Turkish relations is a number one problem in the Caucasus for the United States. The political scientist attached importance to the latest statements of official Washington, which imply that the U.S. do not link the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation with the Karabakh settlement. Accordingly, the Armenian political scientist predicts increased American pressure on Turkey.



"The decision of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives to bring to vote a resolution on the Armenian Genocide on March 4 completely fits into this logic. Everything indicates that the U.S. switched to concrete steps, and the U.S. are likely to increase pressure on Turkey so that it will ratify Protocols.



The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks held through Swiss mediation. On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.



The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in 1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.