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Armenian-Turkish protocol to be sent to Turkish parliament next week

Türkiye Materials 12 October 2009 20:55 (UTC +04:00)
Next week, the Armenian-Turkish protocol will be sent to the Turkish parliament for consideration, said the Turkish government spokesman Jemil Chichek, CNN Turk reported.
Armenian-Turkish protocol to be sent to Turkish parliament next week

Next week, the Armenian-Turkish protocol will be sent to the Turkish parliament for consideration, said the Turkish government spokesman Jemil Chichek, CNN Turk reported.

Protocol will be sent to the Turkish Grand National Assembly next week, but the date has not yet been clarified, and only the Parliament will decide whether to vote on the protocol," said Chichek.

Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandian signed the protocol Ankara-Yerevan in Zurich on Oct. 10.

On Aug. 31, Turkey and Armenia in the talks mediated by Switzerland reached an agreement to launch "internal political consultations" to sign the Protocol on Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and Protocol on Development of Bilateral Relations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reported.

Political consultations will be completed within six weeks, and following that two protocols will be signed and submitted to the two countries' parliaments for approval, the ministry reported.

Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993 due to Armenia's claims to recognize so-called "Armenian genocide" and Armenia's 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 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Serious progress is not expected to take place without settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh problem, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday.

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