Armenian expert names possible date of Turkish-Armenian protocols' ratification

The process of normalization the relations between Turkey and Armenia has already been launched. There are prospects for ratification of the protocols in 2010, the Armenian Caucasus Institute director Alexander Iskandaryan said.

"The prospect of ratification is not full. But it is real. The protocols are likely to be ratified by the Turkish parliament, Iskandaryan told Trend News.

The most probable date of ratification of protocols by Turkey, if this happens, is the second half of February - April 2010, he said.

The Armenian parliament will discuss and finally clarify its position on the Armenian-Turkish protocols only after the Turkish parliament will make a decision on these documents, the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Republican Hovik Abrahamyan said at a press conference on Dec. 24.

If the Turkish Parliament ratifies the documents without preconditions in a reasonable time, we will do the same, otherwise, in this case we will act the same," the speaker of the Armenian legislative body said. He stressed that Armenia is interested in ratifying the protocols by the Turkish Parliament.

If the protocols are ratified by the Turkish legislative body, the Armenian parliament will not have the problems with the approval of the documents, Iskandaryan said.

"Configuration of the coalition parties and the opposition in the parliament allows me to think so," he added.

The Turkish parliament can ratify the protocols or not. But it is impossible to change them legally, the expert said.

Of course, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem has a direct impact on the situation in the region. It affects Georgia, and oil and energy projects. This question was raised in the statements of Turkish officials, Iskandaryan said.

"I think their statements differ as opposed to the audience for which they are planned," he said.

Time will tell about the results, Iskandaryan said.

Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocols in Zurich Oct. 10. Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey were broken in 1993.

/Trend News/