HistoryofTruth.com - Armenian Allegations

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey will sign two protocols, which provide a framework for the normalization of bilateral relations, on Oct. 10, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced.

Erdogan’s remarks came on Sunday upon his arrival in Turkey from the United States, where he attended the UN General Assembly in New York as well as the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.

“The foreign ministers will come together on Oct. 10 and sign the drafted document,” Erdogan told reporters, without elaborating, while noting, however, that the issue was discussed during his brief tête-à-tête with US President Barack Obama after the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh ended on Friday. The signing is to take place in Zurich and Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, whose country acted as a mediator in reconciliation talks between the two neighbors, is also likely to attend the ceremony along with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto“lu and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a Turkish governmental official.

On Aug. 31, Armenia and Turkey announced that they had agreed to start internal political consultations on the two protocols — the “Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations” and the “Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations” — which had been initiated in the course of their efforts under Swiss mediation.

After being signed, the two protocols will be submitted to the respective Parliaments for ratification on each side, a process expected to take considerable time due to the opposition’s objections in both Ankara and Yerevan. Erdogan, meanwhile, also said that Turkey would not pay $7.8 billion for a possible purchase of Patriot missile systems from the United States, adding that no final decision had been made on different alternatives.

“A purchase of missiles worth of $7.8 billion is simply out of the question. Our defense industry undersecretariat is working on the issue. No final decision has been made yet,” Erdogan said.

“What we have on the table is in fact a planned purchase of a package of four missile batteries at a cost of $1.3 billion. And these batteries are mobile, not fixed,” he said, noting that the purchase would not target any specific region or country. The US administration has recently notified Congress of a possible sale of Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile batteries and related equipment to Turkey, the only NATO ally bordering Iran.

Earlier this month, the Turkish military said that Turkey’s possible purchase of Patriot missile systems from the United States would cost $1 billion, not a previously quoted figure of $7.8 billion.