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Erdogan 'Rules Out' Turkish-Armenian Protocol Ratification

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  • Erdogan 'Rules Out' Turkish-Armenian Protocol Ratification

    ERDOGAN 'RULES OUT' TURKISH-ARMENIAN PROTOCOL RATIFICATION

    Armenialiberty.org (RFE/RL)
    http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/2 011262.html
    APril 13 2010

    Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian (L) and Turkish Prime Minister
    Tayyip Erdogan meet for a bilateral meeting during nuclear security
    summit in Washington, DC, 12Apr2010 13.04.2010

    Turkey's parliament would not ratify the fence-mending agreements
    with Armenia if they were put to a vote now, Turkish Prime Minister
    Recep Tayyip Erdogan was reported on Tuesday to have told President
    Serzh Sarkisian during their talks in Washington.

    Neither leader made any public statements on the results of the talks
    held on the sidelines of the ongoing nuclear security summit hosted by
    U.S. President Barack Obama. The official Turkish Anatolia news agency
    said they agreed to assign their foreign ministers to look for ways
    of implementing the two Turkish-Armenian protocols signed last October.

    According to the Turkish daily "Sabah," Erdogan told Sarkisian that
    the existing "political atmosphere" does not bode well for their
    ratification by Turkey's Grand National Assembly. He blamed it on
    recent decisions by U.S. and Swedish lawmakers to recognize the 1915
    massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

    "If the protocols are brought to the agenda of the parliament while
    U.S. and Swedish parliaments are taking decisions on the issue, they
    will be rejected," he reportedly said. "Sabah" also quoted Erdogan
    as also linking protocol ratification with decisive progress in
    international efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict.

    The Turkish premier similarly stressed the importance of a Karabakh
    settlement for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations before
    departing to Washington. He said he made this clear in his earlier
    meetings with the presidents of the United States, Russia and France.

    The three nations have been co-chairing the OSCE's so-called Minsk
    Group on Karabakh.

    "I told [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy that opening the border
    [with Armenia] is no big deal," Erdogan told journalists on Sunday,
    according to "Today's Zaman" daily. "I proposed that he take a car
    or train and then we pass through the border together as soon as the
    Minsk Group fulfills its duty."

    Addressing members of the Armenian community in the U.S. later on
    Monday, Sarkisian hinted that Ankara is sticking to its preconditions
    for establishing diplomatic relations with Yerevan and opening the
    Turkish-Armenian border. "I met this morning with the Turkish prime
    minister," he said. "Our position was and is always is very clear:
    Turkey can't talk with Armenian and Armenians with the language of
    preconditions. We will simply not allow that."

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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