Azernews.Az

The Armenian parliament’s foreign affairs commission on Friday began discussing the 2009 accords on normalizing the country’s strained relations with Turkey.
Its chairman, Armen Rustamian, said following the discussions that the documents will be included in the legislature’s agenda regardless of the commission’s feedback. For the time being, the commission intends to appeal to the country’s parliament speaker suggesting that a debate on the issue be launched in all parliamentary factions.
A taskforce comprising representatives of all factions will be established as well. The working group will be charged with developing a precise procedure for discussing the Turkey-Armenia protocols in the foreign affairs commission and parliament by next Monday. Also, the protocols will be discussed in all Armenian parliamentary commissions.
Some members of the Armenian foreign affairs commission believe the protocols should be put on discussion in Armenia only after Turkey takes steps toward ratifying them.
Of note, the commission has also included in the parliament’s agenda the issue of amending the law on international agreements, which allows Yerevan to revoke its signatures on international accords that it deems as contrary to the country’s national interests.
Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993. Armenia's occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, Turkey’s ally, and Yerevan’s claims on the 1915 genocide have been obstacles to normal relations between the two countries. On October 10, 2009, the two governments signed two protocols to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders. However, the documents require parliamentary approval.*