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ARMENIA HALTS RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT WITH TURKEY
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 17 2015
YEREVAN - The Associated Press
The Armenian president has said he has asked the country's
parliamentary speaker to withdraw his signature from a groundbreaking
2009 agreement with Turkey meant to restore ties between the two
nations.
President Serzh Sargsyan said in a statement yesterday that Armenia
would not ratify the agreement because of the "preconditions" that
Turkey is putting in place before it ratifies its part of the deal.
The agreement aims to restore diplomatic ties between the countries
as well as reopen the common border, which has been closed since
1993. It was brokered by the United States and other nations.
The move comes in a year that Armenia is remembering the mass killings
of Armenians in the Ottoman era in 1915, 100 years ago.
The relations between the leaders of both countries is tense with
recent remarks on the issue.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Armenia Feb. 10 to
examine the 1915 events through the lens of "science, not politics,"
criticizing the rejection of Ankara's invitation to representatives
of the country to attend war commemoration ceremonies in Turkey.
In January, the Turkish president sent invitation letters to more
than 100 leaders, including Sargsyan, to participate in ceremonies on
April 24 marking the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli in Canakkale.
The ceremonies in Canakkale were rearranged this year to coincide
with Armenia's traditional day of remembrance for the Armenian victims
of 1915.
Sargsyan denounced Erdogan's invitation as a "short-sighted" attempt
to overshadow the massacres of Ottoman Armenians.
"We would like them to come and be in Canakkale on April 24,
to breathe in that atmosphere and try to understand that happened
among our hundreds of thousands of martyrs. But they won't do that,"
Erdogan said.
February/16/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/armenia-halts-ratification-of-agreement-with-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nid=78442
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 17 2015
YEREVAN - The Associated Press
The Armenian president has said he has asked the country's
parliamentary speaker to withdraw his signature from a groundbreaking
2009 agreement with Turkey meant to restore ties between the two
nations.
President Serzh Sargsyan said in a statement yesterday that Armenia
would not ratify the agreement because of the "preconditions" that
Turkey is putting in place before it ratifies its part of the deal.
The agreement aims to restore diplomatic ties between the countries
as well as reopen the common border, which has been closed since
1993. It was brokered by the United States and other nations.
The move comes in a year that Armenia is remembering the mass killings
of Armenians in the Ottoman era in 1915, 100 years ago.
The relations between the leaders of both countries is tense with
recent remarks on the issue.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Armenia Feb. 10 to
examine the 1915 events through the lens of "science, not politics,"
criticizing the rejection of Ankara's invitation to representatives
of the country to attend war commemoration ceremonies in Turkey.
In January, the Turkish president sent invitation letters to more
than 100 leaders, including Sargsyan, to participate in ceremonies on
April 24 marking the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli in Canakkale.
The ceremonies in Canakkale were rearranged this year to coincide
with Armenia's traditional day of remembrance for the Armenian victims
of 1915.
Sargsyan denounced Erdogan's invitation as a "short-sighted" attempt
to overshadow the massacres of Ottoman Armenians.
"We would like them to come and be in Canakkale on April 24,
to breathe in that atmosphere and try to understand that happened
among our hundreds of thousands of martyrs. But they won't do that,"
Erdogan said.
February/16/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/armenia-halts-ratification-of-agreement-with-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nid=78442
From: A. Papazian