Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has spoken to Al Jazeera TV about the ratification of the accords on rapprochement with Turkey.
“It is strange not only to us but to everybody that the Turks think or say that the Armenian side is delaying the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Al Jazeera television.
On the contrary, it is obvious that it is the Turks that are holding up the process, he said. “This is clear, because as the leader of the political force that constitutes the majority in the Armenian parliament, I can state categorically that the Armenian parliament will not fail to ratify the protocols if the Turkish parliament ratifies them without any preconditions,” Sargsyan said, echoing remarks he made last week in a speech to the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.
At the Al Jazeera correspondent’s request, Sargsyan outlined how events will develop once both parliaments have ratified the protocols. “After ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols, the latter will come into force, the border between Armenia and Turkey will be opened, afterwards an intergovernmental commission will be set up which will consist of sub-committees, and then we will start our dialogue.” The president said that ratification of the protocols means the start of the process, not its completion.
The Armenian leader said that the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border is important for Russia and the USA as well. “This is why the USA, Russia and the European Union support this process. That is to say, it is a matter not only of opening the border, but of establishing relations,” Sargsyan concluded.
Asked about US President Barack Obama’s statements on the “Armenian genocide” during his election campaign, the Armenian leader said Obama has kept his word and not changed his opinion, although he has not commented as much on the problem since being elected president.
Asked whether he wished Obama had used the word “genocide,” the Armenian president replied: “Of course.”
Obama did not qualify the events of 1915 as “genocide” in his speech on 24 April last year, using instead the Armenian term “Meds Yeghern,” meaning “Great Calalmity,” which has no international legal significance.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
