Sarkisian criticizes Turkey’s policy
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has claimed that the current
policy pursued by Turkey in its reconciliation with Armenia "is not
grounds for optimism".
"When this process started in 2008, we knew that Armenian-Turkish relations could be forged only owing to strong political will, but we have not seen that will from Turkey," Sarkisian maintained. "We witnessed that the opposing side is failing to ratify the [reconciliation] protocols, so we froze the process. Ankara’s current policy is not helping to settle [bilateral] relations."
Turkey and Armenia have been at odds for decades and their shared border has been shut since 1993 due to Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Armenian claims on mass killings of their ancestors by Ottoman Turks. In October 2009, in Zurich, the two governments signed agreements to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders. However, the accords require approval by both countries’ parliaments. Ankara and Yerevan have accused each other of dragging their feet and of trying to re-write the texts of the protocols.*
"When this process started in 2008, we knew that Armenian-Turkish relations could be forged only owing to strong political will, but we have not seen that will from Turkey," Sarkisian maintained. "We witnessed that the opposing side is failing to ratify the [reconciliation] protocols, so we froze the process. Ankara’s current policy is not helping to settle [bilateral] relations."
Turkey and Armenia have been at odds for decades and their shared border has been shut since 1993 due to Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Armenian claims on mass killings of their ancestors by Ottoman Turks. In October 2009, in Zurich, the two governments signed agreements to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their borders. However, the accords require approval by both countries’ parliaments. Ankara and Yerevan have accused each other of dragging their feet and of trying to re-write the texts of the protocols.*
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