Azernews.Az

A lawmaker of Armenia’s ruling Republic Party has claimed the Turkish parliament will ratify the protocols on mending ties with Yerevan signed in October on December 7.
Gagik Minasian, the Republic Party’s commission chair, maintained that he had been informed to that end by Turkish lawmakers. According to him, the Turkish MPs represented in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Parliamentary Assembly have pledged that the ruling AK Party will use its parliamentary majority to secure approval of the reconciliation agreement in the Grand National Assembly.
Minasian said the Turkish legislature’s foreign affairs committee has until December 7 to finish considering the protocols. Until then, the committee is expected to approve the documents and send them to parliament, he alleged.
Armenia and Turkey signed protocols on October 10 in Switzerland to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their sealed borders, in a bid to normalize ties, marred by decades of hostility due to Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Yerevan’s claims on the 1915 "genocide" in Ottoman Turkey. However, the documents require ratification in both countries’ parliaments, and Turkish officials have ruled out their approval in the Grand National Assembly before progress is made in resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
Zeynab Daghi, deputy chair of AK’s parliamentary faction, said that approval of the protocols signed with Armenia is not on the Turkish parliament’s agenda, therefore, Azerbaijan has no grounds for concern. As for the timing of ratifying the protocols, the lawmaker said this is possible only at the time of Turkey’s choosing.
Daghi said Turkey cannot be pressured in this respect, as the country is governed by the people.
"We are not being governed from the outside. Turkey is pursuing a purposeful policy and it cannot be altered under pressure from someone else. If someone thinks that Turkey acts under dictation, they are profoundly mistaken," the MP said.
Daghi noted that ratification of the protocols is delaying due to the ongoing peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan, adding that Ankara is closely following the process and expecting its completion.*