Thursday, March 1 2018 19:33

ArmInfo. At today's meeting of the National Security Council of Armenia, the termination of the procedure for signing the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation protocols was announced.

In connection with this issue, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said: "After gaining independence, Armenia tried to establish relations with Turkey, but the Armenian-Turkish relations continued to stall when in 2008 the President of the Republic of Armenia initiated the process of normalization of relations with Turkey. This was the settlement of relations without preconditions. With the Turkish side, with this general understanding of the settlement without preconditions, we started and held negotiations, as a result of the what, on October 10, 2009, in Zurich, protocols were signed "On the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey" and "On the development of relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey." Throughout the negotiation process, we felt the unconditional support of the international community, which , attaching great importance to the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations, considered this step of Armenia as a wise initiative. This is evidenced by the presence at the signing ceremony of the protocols of the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States, France, Switzerland, as well as the High Representative of the European Union and the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Armenia has always maintained a consistent position regarding the implementation of protocols. Unfortunately, further events have once again demonstrated that Ankara is not ready for a settlement and that Turkey's loud statements about readiness for the so-called historical reconciliation have nothing to do with reality. On the day of the signing, the Turkish side once again tried to sound the preconditions that it used before the start of the process, because of which the signing ceremony was postponed for several hours. High-ranking representatives of the international community present at the ceremony both then and subsequently declared that the protocols should be ratified within a reasonable time and implemented without preconditions. However, after the signing of the Zurich protocols, Turkey again returned to the language of preconditions, which not only had no connection with the letter and the spirit of the protocols, but also contradicted them. Turkey conditioned the ratification of the protocols by the settlement of the Karabakh conflict in accordance with the maximalist and unjustified approaches of the Azerbaijani side and openly welcomed the provocative statements and actions of Azerbaijan against Armenia and Artsakh. Not only Armenia, but also the countries supporting the process and international organizations publicly stated that the settlement of the Karabakh conflict should not be linked with the normalization process of the Armenian-Turkish relations. Such attempts can damage both processes.

We also repeatedly confirmed, both at the beginning and during the Armenian-Turkish process, that Armenia will never question the importance of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. As President Sargsyan repeatedly stressed, Armenia does not speak the language of the preconditions, but does not accept any preconditions from anyone. When the Turkish side pushed the whole process to a standstill, Armenia was forced to suspend the ratification procedure, nevertheless being ready to ratify the protocols in parallel with the relevant steps of Turkey. This approach of Armenia was received with understanding and welcomed by various countries and international organizations. The fact that Turkey is not ready to move forward towards the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations was once again proved when Ankara refused to invite President Sargsyan to participate in the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2015, which I handed to the President of Turkey Erdogan in Ankara in August 2014. This was another missed opportunity from Turkey. Armenia has repeatedly stated that the leadership of Turkey cannot forever keep the protocols hostage. But Ankara did not listen to our, or to the consistent calls of the international community. Of course, we never relied on Turkey's goodwill, but tried to build equal and modern relations. Perhaps this is also the reason for Turkey's reluctance to ratify the protocols. In the end, these were the first documents of the Armenian-Turkish relations, which were not imposed on us, moreover, were initiated by Armenia and coordinated on the basis of our proposals. Armenia remained at its height and was able to advance this process, initiated by it, while remaining committed to the reached agreements, unlike Turkey, which did not find the strength to get rid of its stereotypes, violating the fundamental principle of international relations: pacta sunt servanda - agreements must be respected. Beginning the process of normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations, we fully represented possible options for further developments. We wanted to normalize relations by signing protocols, but we also understood that Turkey could not demonstrate the proper political will and not honor its obligations. Time showed that our anxiety was justified. Until now, the lack of steps by the Turkish authorities to ratify the protocols, the ongoing attempts to link the ratification of the protocols with preconditions, the provocative statements from Ankara to Armenia and the Armenian people clearly show that Turkey is not ready for ratification of the protocols and their implementation."