Azernews.Az

The Armenian parliament will ratify the 2009 agreement on normalizing the country’s relations with Turkey only after the Turkish legislature approves them, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has said, Russia’s state news agency ITAR-TASS reported.
Sarkisian said while addressing the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London on Wednesday that he intends to send the two protocols signed with Turkey to the Armenian parliament upon his return to Yerevan from the British capital, but their approval is ruled out until the Turkish Grand National Assembly unconditionally ratifies the agreement. According to him, Armenia is thus trying to prevent a situation whereby the protocols pass in its parliament but are rejected in Ankara.
"As a leader of a political party that has a majority in parliament, I guarantee that Armenia will definitely ratify the protocols. But the Turkish government is not providing such a guarantee, saying that parliament in this country is an independent institution that is not dependent on the executive branch of power," Sarkisian claimed.
Turkey and Armenia have faced differences for decades. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 due to Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory and claims on 1915 "genocide" in Ottoman Turkey. In a bid to normalize ties, Turkey signed protocols to establish diplomatic relations and reopen its border with Armenia in Zurich on October 10, 2009. However, Turkish officials have pledged that Ankara could normalize its relations with Yerevan only after the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh has been fairly settled.
Sarkisian maintained that none of the protocols’ provisions obliges Armenia to relinquish its efforts toward achieving recognition of the alleged World War I-era mass killings of Armenians. "We can neither question the ‘genocide’ nor make extreme concessions on the Garabagh issue."
The Armenian leader alleged further that Yerevan is seeking a solution to the Garabagh conflict based on international law, but the principle of inviolability of territorial integrity does not refer to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
"Garabagh has never been a territory of the independent Azerbaijani state," Sarkisian claimed. "When the Soviet Union collapsed, Garabagh seceded from the union, just like other republics."
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Though the separatist regime in Upper Garabagh declared so-called independence at the time of the Soviet collapse in 1991, this "independence", which blatantly tramples on international law, has not been recognized by the world community.
Sarkisian also expressed territorial claims to Azerbaijan’s ancient enclave of Nakhchivan.
"The Garabagh people believe that they are unable to provide even the minimum conditions for their existence. We are therefore holding talks with Azerbaijan. An alternative to this is granting Garabagh to Azerbaijan, but this would not be a good thing. We have already been through this. For example, Nakhchivan. There is not a single Armenian left there. Lately, we witnessed cultural vandalism there," Sarkisian claimed.
Sarkisian’s address at the Chatham House was condemned in a protest held by Azerbaijanis. Armenia Today news agency reported that as the Armenian president’s motorcade approached the building, representatives of the local Azerbaijani diaspora chanted slogans "Return Azerbaijani lands!" and "Justice for Khojaly".
Sarkisian is now expected to meet with the Queen of England Elizabeth II at the Buckingham Palace. He is also scheduled to hold meetings with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Prince Charles.*