UN Secretary-General urges Armenia and Turkey to ratify Protocols

May 20, 2010 - 15:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that positive relations between Turkey and Armenia would be in the interest of the region and bring stability to the troubled area.

The UN leader urged the two sided to come together and finalize what he described as a “landmark” set of protocols signed by their foreign ministers last October committing the two nations to normalizing their relations and opening borders.

Referring to the Armenian Genocide, Ban Ki-moon said he knew there was a long-lasting historical matter between the two countries, making relations difficult. “However, positive and harmonized relations between Turkey and Armenia, being two important countries of the same region, would be extremely important both for stability and peace in the region and for the cooperation of the peoples of the two countries,” he said, Asbarez.com reported.

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.