Azerbaijan, Baku, December 15 / Trend , E.Tariverdiyeva /
The Armenian president Serj Sargisyan recently issued a strong statement warning Turkey that any unreasonable delay in the Turkish parliament's consideration of the two diplomatic protocols on Armenian-Turkish relations that were signed on 10 October would be unacceptable, said Richard Giragosian, Director of Armenian Center for National and International Studies.
"The president's warning is justified, and is actually a necessary reminder to Turkey that the time for "testing" Armenian resolve is over," Giragosian wrote to Trend in an email.
Upon the order by the President of Armenia, amendments are prepared to the law on international treaties that envisage withdrawal of the signature of the country, an expert on constitutional law, Ph.D. in Law Grayr Tovmasyan stated in Yerevan today, Mediamax agency reported.
According to him, such a procedure is adopted in many countries and is a more aggressive step, rather than refusal to ratify an international document.
Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocols in Zurich Oct. 10. Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey have been broken since 1993.
According to Giragosian, it is also a timely warning, and most likely reflects the same message that US President Barack Obama delivered to the Turkish leaders during their recent meeting in the White House that Turkey is expected to fulfill expectations by ratifying the protocols "within a reasonable timeframe" and "without any preconditions."
"In this way, Turkey is in danger of triggering a "crisis of confidence," where all great powers will only see Turkey as unreliable and insincere if Ankara fails to meet its obligations to Yerevan," said Giragosian.
According to him, clearly if Turkey fails this test with Armenia, it will not only make any future efforts at "normalizing relations" much more difficulty, it may actually trigger a shift in Armenian policy.
But at the same time, this strong Armenian stance does not mean that Armenia wants to challenge the protocols or its diplomacy with Turkey, the expert said.
"This is more about the "diplomatic test of wills" between Armenia and Turkey, and that also involves Azerbaijan of course, said Giragosian. But the real test will be how Turkey responds and how it reacts, as Turkey clearly holds the initiative, and both Armenia and Azerbaijan are equally awaiting the Turkish response.