The Armenian parliament's speaker has opposed calls for protocols on rapprochement with Turkey to be taken off the agenda.
It is for the Armenian president to withdraw the Armenian-Turkish protocols from the Armenian National Assembly agenda, Chairman Samvel Nikoyan said in parliament on Monday, in response to a question from the leader of the opposition Heritage Party faction, Stepan Safaryan.
Safaryan had noted that Turkish Minister of State Egemen Bagis had promised to recognize the killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, if it is academically proven. Safaryan said that such statements were unacceptable, and that the Armenian parliament should ultimately withdraw the protocols, News.am reported.
“I believe the Armenian-Turkish protocols should remain on the agenda," speaker Samvel Nikoyan said. "The international recognition of the Armenian genocide does not depend on those protocols. On the contrary, the international community respects Armenia’s position.”
Stepan Safaryan responded by noting that Heritage would vote against the National Assembly agenda as long as “the infamous protocols, which do not promise anything good, are included there”.
Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols on rapprochement in 2009 but the process stalled with neither side ratifying the accords.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
