The removal of the Armenian-Turkish protocols from the agenda of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey proved to be a legal fact, Ruben Melkonyan, Deputy Dean, Department of Oriental Studies, Yerevan State University, told a press conference Aug. 24.
However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's signature to the document has not been invalidated, he added. "So we can consider them to be 'on hold'. The protocols continue to exist, but have now dropped out of Turkish Legislature's sight. They may come into sight at any moment," Melkonyan said.
According to him, the Kurdish problem and developments in the Middle East have relegated the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation to the background. So no changes should be expected in the bilateral relations in the near future, the expert said. Turkey's "small brother", Azerbaijan, may be inspired by the current situation as well. But this "inspiration" will not persist, Melkonyan said.
In the context of enhancement of Turkey's role, the expert does not attach high importance to mediators' pressure.
"The past two years have shown Turkey has been able to resist the mediators' transparently obvious pressure," the expert said.
As regards the impact the suspension of the Armenian-Turkish protocols might have on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Mekonyan said that the two are separate processes. "The protocols can by no means have any impact on the Nagorno-Karabakh process," he concluded.
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