Erdogan sends his Special Envoy to Yerevan

April 7, 2010 - 17:55 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Special Envoy conveyed a written message of the Turkish Prime Minister, as well as President Abdullah Gul’s verbal message to the Armenian President.

“Armenia is looking for practical steps on behalf of Turkey that would allow normalizing the two countries relations without preconditions and achieving a breakthrough in the negotiations,” Mr. Sargsyan said. The Turkish diplomat said in his turn that Turkey is ready to secure soonest ratification of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols.

Sinirlioglu also conveyed an offer about Erdogan's and Sargsyan's meeting in Washington within the framework of global nuclear security summit to take place on April 12-13, the press office of the Armenian President 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.