Turkish MP: Normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations impossible without liberation of Azerbaijani lands
By Rashid Shirinov
Normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia is out of the question without the liberation of the occupied Azerbaijani lands, Metin Kulunk, MP from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, told Trend on March 9.
He was commenting on Armenia’s recent cancellation of the Zurich protocols with Turkey. The MP noted that Turkey’s priority is the liberation of the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.
“By canceling the protocols, Armenia wants to exert political pressure on Turkey. At the same time, Armenia is well aware that Ankara will not make any concessions regarding Azerbaijan to Yerevan,” Kulunk said, adding that Armenia’s decision to cancel the protocols has no significance for Turkey.
He also noted that Armenia, while claiming that it “wanted normalization of relations with Turkey,” actively propagated the lie about the so-called “Armenian genocide” in Europe and the U.S.
“Turkey has repeatedly stated that it is ready to create a joint commission to investigate the events of 1915, but Armenia and the Armenian lobby to this day continue to avoid this,” the Turkish MP mentioned.
Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey’s predecessor, the Ottoman Empire allegedly carried out “genocide” against the Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915. By strengthening the efforts to promote the so-called “genocide” in the world, Armenians have achieved its recognition by the parliaments of some countries.
However, when Turkey proposed Armenia to create a joint historical commission of historians and experts from both sides and third parties in order to study the events of 1915 and share the findings with the international public, Armenia refused the offer.
The foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia signed protocols on the normalization of relations between the two states in October 2009, but they were never ratified. Conversely, on March 1, 2018, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced the cancellation of the protocols.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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