Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Washington that whereas the events that took place in the beginning of the 20th century were denied earlier in Turkey, currently Turks do not deny that Armenians faced tragic events.

“With signing the Protocols, Turkey has taken a step forward from the point of view of the Armenian-Turkish normalization. Ten years ago nobody talked about the Armenian Cause in Turkey, but currently the Turkish society freely speaks about it,” said Davutoglu.

Davutoglu believes that the problems between the two peoples have originated as a result of intensification of nationalistic movements during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

“A year prior to the events, that is, 1914, there had been Armenian ministers in Turkey, Armenian ambassadors had been representing Turkey in a number of European capitals, while Armenians are recalled as "the most loyal subjects" in the Ottoman Empire's sources. 1915 is an important year for Armenians, but one should remember that 250,000 Turks were killed at a front the same year, and one of those Turks was my grandfather," said Davutoglu.

Davutoglu added that he does not aim to justify someone’s mistakes. "Even if there were mistakes, they should be discussed. One should remember that we are talking about a historical period, during which there was no political order on the whole territory of Turkey," Voice of America quoted him as saying.

At the same time, Davutoglu expressed regret over the fact that the Constitutional Court of Armenia has adopted a decision, under which it excluded creation of historians’ commission, what was important for Turkey.

Davutoglu said that from Ankara’s point of view the Armenian-Turkish Protocols aimed to improve relations between Armenia and Turkey, normalize the two people’s relations and establish stability in Caucasus.

The Turkish Foreign Minister stated once again that there will be no changes with respect to the agreements, unless a progress is recorded in the Karabakh conflict resolution.

“In other words, even if the Protocols are ratified without the Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement, Turkey will close the border again if the situation becomes escalated,” said Davutoglu.