Turkey wishes the current normalization process with Armenia to follow the spirit of the Protocols signed, said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. “Turkey holds a firm stance on the issue and will prevent any attempts to harm the process,” he told NTV company in an interview. According to him, Ankara pursues 3 goals in the current process: normalization of ties with Armenia, eradication of prejudices about Armenian and Turkish nations and establishment of peace on global and regional levels.

Touching upon Karabakh conflict settlement, he said there was certain progress in peace talks.

“It’s better to settle the problem than freeze it,” Davutoglu stressed.

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.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has issued the following official statement on Armenia-Turkey Protocols:

“The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia has declared its decision of constitutional conformity on the Protocols between Turkey and Armenia signed on 10 October 2009 with a short statement on 12 January 2010. The Constitutional Court has recently published its grounds of decision. It has been observed that this decision contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols.”

“The said decision undermines the very reason for negotiating these Protocols as well as their fundamental objective. This approach cannot be accepted on our part,” runs the statement posted on Turkish MFA website.

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.