Unlawful blockade of Armenia must come to an end, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated.

As President Sargsyan said during PACE plenary session, “two years ago, we initiated a process of normalization between Armenia and Turkey, which would have allowed, through the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of the border, to gradually overcome the divide that had existed for almost a century.”

“Unfortunately Armenia-Turkey normalization process ended up in a deadlock. The sole reason was that Turkey reverted to its practice of setting preconditions, and failing to honor its commitments, which rendered the ratification of the signed protocols impossible. Having faced the wall of disappointment and mistrust, I cannot predict when the window of opportunity will reopen. I regret to say so, but it is the reality,” he said.

“Armenia initiated the process with good intentions, true to the 21st-century imperative of peaceful coexistence of nations and peoples. We are determined not to leave this problem unsolved for generations to come. The normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey is important not only for Armenians and Turks, but also for the whole region, I believe even for the whole of Europe in terms of creating an atmosphere of peace, stability, and cooperation,” the President said.

In 2009, Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey, Edward Nalbandian and Ahmet Davutoglu, signed the protocols on establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of the common border, however no real steps followed to implement the protocols due to Turkey’s attempts to bring forth Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement as a precondition for normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.