"Armenian Court ruling postive step in protocols process"

Saturday, 06 February 2010 09:12

US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey reconfirmed Washington’s position on the Armenian Constitutional Court ruling on the Armenia-Turkey Protocols. In an interview with Sabah, the American diplomat spoke about the process of normalizing Armenia-Turkey relations, the Armenian court’s decision, issues relating to the recently banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and the matter of Cyprus.

Asked whether the Protocols “are dead,” Jeffrey said, “No. Nothing’s dead. With its decision, the Armenian Constitutional Court gave a green light to ratifying the Protocols. There are Nalbandian-Davutoglu contacts.

“We are working with Turkey every day. We are attempting to make progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In truth, those are two separate processes. However, Turkey doesn’t see it that way. There are a number of conflicts that must be resolved in the Caucasus. They can move forward in different speeds, but they’re all important. They are parallel processes…” said the ambassador, adding that there are no restrictive clauses in the Armenian court’s ruling.

“Certain statements in the Constitutional Court’s ruling have made Turkey uncomfortable; however, we consider that decision to be positive and see no restrictive clauses in that. We believe that both parties approach their obligations assumed under the Protocols seriously,” said Jeffrey.