Turkish Foreign Minister reiterated conditions Ankara set forth for normalization of ties with Armenia.

As Mevlut Cavusoglu stated in an interview with Sabah, the Karabakh conflict settlement is essential to establish peace in the South Caucasus.

"To normalize ties with Ankara, Yerevan must cede Karabakh territories," he said, accusing Armenia of taking no steps towards solving the Karabakh issue.

President Serzh Sargsyan addressed a letter to the National Assembly speaker Galust Sahakyan on Feb 16 requesting to recall Armenian-Turkish protocols from the parliament's agenda, presidential press service reports.

The presidential letter reads, "at the outset of the process of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish ties without preconditions, we were in full realization of all possible scenarios. We were similarly ready for comprehensive rapprochement through ratification of the protocols and their failure. We had nothing to conceal, as it would become clear to the international community which party was guilty of missing the chance to open the last closed border in Europe."

As the president further noted, ever since the Protocols were signed, Armenia was consistent in its efforts to implement the document.

In his letter, the Armenian leader also criticized the Turkish leadership over absence of political will, distortion of the essence of the protocols and attempts to lay down conditions, as well as intensified policy of denialism ahead of the Genocide centennial.

“I repeatedly stated that we don’t have unlimited time for ratification of protocols. I regret that the message was left unheard by the Turkish leadership,” Sargsyan concluded.