Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 15 / Trend /
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed the Turkish-Armenian protocols over the phone this week, CNN Turk reported.
Davutoglu said Turkey hopes that the protocols will be ratified in the near future after a peace agreement on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Davutoglu and Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian signed the protocols in Zurich on Oct. 10.
In the talks mediated by Switzerland, Turkey and Armenia reached an agreement to launch "internal political consultations" on Aug. 31 to sign the "Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations," the Turkish Foreign Ministry reported.
Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey were severed in 1993 due to Yerevan's claims of an alleged genocide and its occupation of Azerbaijani lands.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the United States - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions.