Turkey unlikely to revise its position by the Spring of 2018, expert says
The Turkish side distorts the reality while stating it carries no responsibility for the delay of the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols, Director of Oriental Studies at the Institute of Armenian NAS Ruben Safrastyan told Panorama.am, when asked to comment on the Turkish foreign ministry latest statement.
“It was Turkey that deviated from the agreement reached in Switzerland. It seems the Turkish side says something and acts in a completely different way. From one hand, it claims to be committed to restoring relations with Armenia, while from the other hand, it continues pointing to the Artsakh issue as a matter of paramount importance. I do not take seriously the statement issued by Turkey,” added the expert.
Our interlocutor next said Turkey is unlikely to revise its approach and revisit its relations with Armenia by the Spring of 2018.
To remind, Turkish foreign ministry issued a statement on Friday, rejecting Armenia’s FM Edward Nalbandian’s statement that Turkey held responsibility for the delay in the ratification of the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia in 2009.
The statement labeled Nalbandian’s comments as aimed at “misleading the world public opinion.”
Meanwhile Armenia’s foreign ministry came up with a response statement today, accusing Turkey for bringing forward preconditions, linking the Armenian-Turkish relations to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement in favor of Azerbaijan.
“It is well known, that there is no single word on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or any precondition in the Protocols. By returning once again to the language of preconditions following the signing of Protocols, Turkey has opposed to the international community, which has always supported the normalization of the Armenian Turkish relations without preconditions and continues to do so now,” the statement read.