Armenia needs to get rid of Protocols

May 7, 2010 - 17:12 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Supreme Body, Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Rustamyan said that Armenia should get rid of the Protocols on the Armenian-Turkish normalization as soon as possible.

Suspension of the Protocols ratification process does not mean that Armenia has rejected them, Rustamyan told a conference of Hay Dat Committees.

“These Protocols are a threat for us but an advantage for Turkey, as Ankara needs the process but not a result,” the MP said.

Referring to the Armenian Cause (Hay Dat), Rustamyan noted that this package contains all the steps for the Armenian Genocide worldwide recognition, compensation of losses and restoration of the Armenian nation’s historical rights.

He also stressed that the Armenian authorities failed to separate the Armenian-Turkish normalization from the Karabakh conflict settlement.

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.