Armenia will resume the normalization of ties with Turkey only after the Zurich protocols have been ratified, the parliamentary speaker has said.
National Assembly Chairman Hovik Abrahamyan made the comments in the Syrian parliament on Wednesday, ArmInfo news agency reported.
He said that Armenia had initiated the normalization of ties with Turkey in an effort to strengthen peace and stability in the region.
“The protocols under which Armenia and Turkey agreed to open their border and establish diplomatic relations without prerequisites were signed in Zurich [in 2009]. However, soon after the signing, the Turkish authorities started to set prerequisites, which were first masked and then open,” Abrahamyan said.
Armenian leaders have criticized their Turkish counterparts for saying that substantial progress is needed on the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied areas of Azerbaijan before the protocols can be implemented and relations normalized.
Abrahamyan said that Ankara should demonstrate political will and determination to continue the process and reject the language of prerequisites.
Stating that process or establishment of relations with Turkey will not mean that Armenia doubts so called Armenian genocide, Abrahamyan said, “We will never allow this issue to become a bargaining chip; in addition, we will further strive to gain international recognition of the “genocide”, the Armenian National Assembly chairman said.
One of the protocols signed with Turkey envisages the creation of a commission to investigate 1915 incidents in the Ottoman Empire.
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