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Ratification Of Armenian-Turkish Protocols Will Contribute To Econom

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  • Ratification Of Armenian-Turkish Protocols Will Contribute To Econom

    RATIFICATION OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF BOTH COUNTRIES: EUROPEAN COMMISSION

    ARKA
    Oct 11, 2011

    YEREVAN, October 11. / ARKA /. The ratification of the Armenian-Turkish
    protocols will contribute to the economic development of both countries
    and the region as a whole, Onno Simons, European Commission's charge
    d'affaires in Armenia said today. Speaking at a round table discussion
    Onno Simons said the process started to normalize the Armenian-Turkish
    relations did not continue and had no positive results for either side.

    According to Simons, the opening of the border will benefit Turkey
    in the first place.

    "Due to the involvement of the European Union in the Armenia-Turkey
    process, Turkey receives a stimulus and interest to open border and
    improve relations with Armenia in order to join the EU,' he said.

    Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic ties since Armenia became
    independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. Turkey closed its border
    with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support for its ally, Azerbaijan,
    which had a dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic
    Armenian enclave of Azerbaijan. There are several sensitive issues
    complicating the establishment of normal relations between the two
    countries, particularly, Ankara's blatant support of Azerbaijan in the
    Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution process and Turkey's refusal to
    acknowledge the mass killings of Armenians in the last years of the
    Ottoman Empire as a genocide.

    The thaw in the strained relations began in 2008 September after
    Turkish president Abdullah Gul arrived in Armenia, at his counterpart's
    invitation, to watch together with Serzh Sargsyan the 2010 World Cup
    qualifying football game between the two countries' national teams. In
    2009 October Armenia and Turkey signed two protocols in Zurich.

    They committed the two neighboring nations to establish diplomatic
    relation and open the Turkish-Armenian border which Ankara closed
    in 1993 in a show of support for Azerbaijan. The Turkish government
    has repeatedly made clear that it will not ensure the protocols'
    ratification by Turkey's parliament before a resolution of the
    Nagorno-Karabakh conflict acceptable to Baku. Yerevan rejects this
    linkage, saying that it contradicts the letter and the spirit of the
    U.S.-backed agreements. Citing the Turkish precondition, president
    Serzh Sargsyan suspended the process of Armenian parliamentary
    ratification of the protocols in April 2009. But he stopped short of
    formally annulling them.

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