Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a meeting in Washington within the frames of Nuclear Security Summit. Leaders of two countries, afterwards met with U.S. President Barack Obama. According to the statement of White House, U.S. President called Turkish and Armenian leaders to make maximum efforts for normalizing bilateral relations and ratifying protocols that were signed by two countries in Switzerland.
Obviously, there is nothing new in the call of Obama. Both himself and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton adressed to Yerevan and Ankara on this issue several times. Although Turkish officials state that the process for ratification of Turkey-Armenia protocols continue, the protocols are waiting unratified. In my opinion, Sarksyan and Erdogan missed a historical chance in Washington. According to the reports, two leaders preserved their position strictly and they did not make any move forward. They both stated that the process of normalization of relations will be continued. These statements were the only positive results of the meeting that lasted more than hour.
Sarksyan believes that Turkey should start making concrete steps and initiate ratification of protocols. Armenian leader signals that Yerevan will also ratify protocols in case Turkey ratifies the documents. In response, Erdogan said that Turkey is responsible of both protocols and peace process in Caucasus.
Turkish Sabah newspaper refered to Erdogan as saying that delay in the ratification of protocols is due to political situation in Turkey. According to the statements of Turkish Prime Minister, Turkish public's positive approach to the process changed following the adoption of Armenian resolutions in United States and Sweden. Erdogan said, "It is not an approprite time for introducing protocols on the agenda of Turkish Parliament. So, it would be better to wait." Erdogan implies that process of recognition of "Armenian genocide" should be stopped or Turkish public will not agree with the ratification of protocols. Turkish Prime Minister also expressed his disappointment on the evaluation of Turkish-Armenian protocols by Armenian Constitutional Court before they are introduced to the Armenian Parliament.
On the other hand, Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan criticized Turkish PM and called Erdogan to not to connect Turkish-Armenian ties to the resettlement of Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Erdogan's statements welcomed and supported by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Probably that was why the planned meeting between Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers was not held.
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