Azernews.Az

President Serzh Sarkisian has suggested that Turkey will not unconditionally normalize relations with Armenia anytime soon and again threatened to annul the universally welcomed agreements signed by the two nations last October.
In an interview with the French daily "Le Figaro" published on Thursday, Sarkisian also warned that Ankara’s reluctance to ratify them is swelling the ranks of Armenians opposed to his conciliatory policy on Turkey.
"Our desire to establish normal relations is great," he said. "However, recent statements from Turkey make me think that they will not ratify the protocols in the foreseeable future.
"We had warned that if we become convinced that the Turks are using the normalization process for other purposes we will take appropriate steps. In that case, we will withdraw our signature from the protocols."
According to Sarkisian, the two governments agreed to put the protocols into practice "within a reasonable time frame and without preconditions" when they inked the deal in Zurich in October 2009. "We have said that Armenia would ratify the protocols immediately after their ratification by Turkey," he said. "And yet Turkey keeps putting forward preconditions for their ratification, the most important of them relating to Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh."
Sarkisian again avoided setting any deadlines for the Turkish ratification.
Sarkisian told "Le Figaro" that his Turkish policy has caused "a great deal of concern among Armenians around the world." "As a result of the dragging out of the normalization process, the number of [Armenian] supporters of the protocols is increasingly dwindling," he warned. *