Protocols will not return to Turkish parliament’s agenda – expertAugust 22, 2011 - 21:28 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia should declare the Armenian-Turkish protocols invalid in response to Turkey’s removal of the protocols from the parliament’s agenda, said director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Armenians Academy of Sciences. “We should have done this earlier,” prof. Ruben Safrastyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. “Although withdrawal of any bill from the parliament is a procedural issue conditioned by the election of the new parliament, it’s obvious that the current Turkish authorities have no intention to normalize relations with Armenia.” “The Protocols will hardly return to the Turkish parliament’s agenda. Turkey is not interested in normalization of relations with Armenia. It entered the big game in Middle East,” prof. Safrastyan said, adding that Armenia should build its policy towards Turkey taking into account the latter’s approach to the matter. Turkey’s Grand National Assembly has withdrawn from the agenda 898 bills, including the Armenian-Turkish protocols signed in 2009. According to Pirus Haber, the new Turkish parliament considers that the issue of opening of border with Armenia is no longer actual for the country’s political course. Besides, in compliance with the parliament’s regulations, a bill that was rejected by the parliament loses its legal forces during six months. 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. Top stories President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Partner news | Lemkin Institute petition seeks release of Armenians in Azerbaijan The Lemkin Institute is deeply concerned about the continued illegal detention of political prisoners from Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Armenian Catholicos calls for national unity against threats Karekin II issued a message on Republic Day marking the anniversary of the First Armenian Republic. Opposition leader, supporters spend night at Sardarapat memorial Police made nearly 300 arrests the day before as Galstanyan and his supporters continued to demonstrate in Yerevan. Armenia designates flood-hit communities as disaster areas The emergency situation was created by floods caused by heavy rains in Armenia’s north on May 25-26. |