Turkey pressures its political machine to find answer to Armenian coalition parties statement

April 22, 2010 - 17:20 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey missed her chance at normalizing ties with Armenia; yet I don’t consider that chance completely lost, an expert Ruben Melkonyan stated.

As he told PanARMENIAN.Net Ankara will be able to normalize ties with Yerevan in case of altering position on the issue. “By continued imitation of reconciliation process, Turkey gained an image of unreliable partner.”

He expressed a supposition that oncoming presidential address will refer to either freezing of the process or Armenia’s withdrawal of Protocols signature.

“Currently, Turkey is pressuring its political machine to find answer to Armenian coalition parties statement,” the expert said, adding that Turkey might resort to blackmail.

“Armenian government took these steps in an attempt to prevent possible bargains with Armenian Genocide memory,” Ruben Melkonyan stated.

The Armenian-Turkish 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.

Commenting on the CC ruling, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “it contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols.” ”The decision undermines the very reason for negotiating these Protocols as well as their fundamental objective. This approach cannot be accepted on our part. Turkey, in line with its accustomed allegiance to its international commitments, maintains its adherence to the primary provisions of these Protocols. We expect the same allegiance from the Armenian government,” the Ministry said.